It is truly baffling that Health Minister Sakina Itoo is attempting to assure the public that, despite the glaring shortage of doctors and paramedics in the Health Department, the existing workforce is sufficient to ensure the smooth functioning of hospitals and medical colleges, as well as to provide proper patient care. Her claim appears to be nothing more than a mere attempt to downplay a grave crisis that has been plaguing the healthcare sector in Jammu and Kashmir for years.
While responding to a query raised by MLA Sham Lal Sharma in the Legislative Assembly, the Health Minister revealed that approximately 16,000 posts of doctors and paramedics remain vacant in the Health Department. This staggering figure should serve as an eye-opener for the people of the Union Territory. It raises a fundamental question—how can a department function effectively when such a massive proportion of its sanctioned workforce is missing? The confidence with which Sakina Itoo has dismissed concerns about the staff shortage suggests that she either possesses a miraculous solution to this crisis or is deliberately ignoring the ground realities that every common citizen is witnessing.
The numbers provided by the minister paint a grim picture of the healthcare system in the UT. According to her statement, there are currently 980 gazetted and 2,937 non-gazetted posts vacant in the Directorate of Health Services, Jammu, while the Directorate of Health Services, Kashmir, is grappling with 420 gazetted and 1,574 non-gazetted vacancies. These figures clearly indicate that the health sector is in a dire state, and the existing infrastructure is simply incapable of handling the ever-increasing patient load.
Even a common person can comprehend the magnitude of this crisis by observing the long queues of ambulances ferrying patients from J&K to neighboring states for treatment. This exodus of patients is a testament to the failure of the administration in providing even the most basic healthcare facilities within the UT. The overburdened hospitals, exhausted medical staff, and the sheer helplessness of patients and their families speak volumes about the inefficiency of the system.
The health minister must stop living in denial and take immediate corrective measures to bridge this gap. Expedite the recruitment process, strengthen the healthcare workforce, and ensure that the people of Jammu and Kashmir are not deprived of their fundamental right to quality medical care. If left unaddressed, this crisis will only worsen, pushing the already struggling healthcare sector towards complete collapse.
