Rattan Singh Gill
Jammu Tawi, Feb 11: The Jammu & Kashmir Legislative Assembly on Tuesday passed Demands for Grants for four key departments — School Education, Health & Medical Education, Social Welfare and Higher Education — approving allocations running into lakhs of crores of rupees through a voice vote after a day-long discussion by members.
The House cleared grants of about Rs. 12,988.72 cr for School Education about Rs 8654.77 cr for Health and Medical Education about Rs 4,456.72 cr for Social Welfare, and Rs 2,150.16 cr for Higher Education.
Winding up the debate, Minister for Health & Medical Education, Social Welfare and Education, Sakeena Itoo thanked legislators for their suggestions and constituency-specific inputs, saying these would help the government fine-tune delivery and address sectoral challenges. She assured the House that all genuine issues flagged by MLAs would be examined and acted upon.
Calling education, health and social welfare the pillars of nation-building, the Minister said the current Budget — presented by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on February 6 — prioritises human development despite financial constraints. She termed the Budget “honest in intent, grounded in reality and guided by compassion,” and focused on inclusive growth and improved service delivery.
School Education Push
On School Education, Itoo said the government reversed frequent policy experimentation and restored the March–November academic session, fulfilling a long-standing demand of parents and students. She said recent winter zone board results showed an all-time high performance in government schools — 85% in Class 10, 84% in Class 12 and 83% in Class 11 — expressing hope of better summer zone results.
Highlighting staff reforms, she said 2,894 CPWs — 1,050 in Jammu and 1,844 in Kashmir — have been regularised, with remaining eligible cases to be cleared as per rules. To address subject staff shortages, Cluster Resource Coordinators have been hired under Samagra Shiksha at Rs 25,000 monthly remuneration.
The department has referred 594 Lecturer vacancies to JKPSC, with selections in the final stage, and is referring 770 non-teaching posts to JKSSB. Promotions and placements in gazetted and non-gazetted cadres are underway.
For inclusive access, 53 Girls Hostels and 28 KGBVs are being completed or upgraded. During the current financial year, 2,356 infrastructure projects have been approved under Capex, including 288 additional classrooms. Under Samagra Shiksha, works include 762 classrooms, 619 boys’ toilets, 710 girls’ toilets, and 604 boundary walls. Next fiscal, 329 classrooms under Capex and 400 under Samagra Shiksha are proposed.
Technology expansion includes 172 Atal Tinkering Labs already functional and approval for 500 more. For 2026–27, 2,733 Smart Classrooms, 289 Virtual Reality Labs, 188 Astro-Physics Labs (one per education zone), and 100 additional Science Centres are planned.
Textbooks have been printed in Dogri, Kashmiri, Pahari, Gojri and Sheena, while free books are being provided to Classes 1–8. The government has launched the JK e-Patshala DTH channel for Classes 1–12 and plans to expand from one to 12 dedicated class-wise channels. Under Beti Anmol, 19,870 girls were covered with Rs 3.68 crore utilised in 2025-26, while Rs 8.69 crore is proposed next year.
Health Sector Expansion
The Minister said healthcare is being repositioned as a right rather than a privilege. Major capacity additions include a 160-bedded block at Bone & Joint Hospital Srinagar built at Rs 140 crore, functional since July 2025, and a 243-bedded Labour Block extension at SMGS Hospital Jammu, recently dedicated.
About 3,200 beds will be added across hospitals in the next two years. Approved projects include a state-of-the-art surgical theatre block at SMHS Srinagar (Rs 50.24 crore) and NGS and BSL-III lab facilities at GMC Jammu. Emergency Medicine Departments will be set up in all GMCs.
Two Cath Labs at GMC Anantnag and GMC Jammu are operational, with two more planned at Rajouri and Baramulla in 2026–27 and one at GMC Doda in the pipeline.
A 128-slice CT Scan has been installed at District Hospital Ganderbal, while CT scan installations are in progress at SMGS Jammu, CD Hospital Jammu, DH Poonch, DH Budgam, SSH Srinagar and SMHS Srinagar. CT scan is also proposed for SSH Jammu. MRI upgrades include 1.5 Tesla MRIs for new GMCs and 3 Tesla MRIs for GMC Jammu, GMC Srinagar and SKIMS. PET Scan facilities are being initiated at GMC Srinagar, and planned for GMC Anantnag and GMC Kathua.
Dialysis services will expand to 80 SDH/CHCs in 15 months, and 50 AI-enabled X-ray machines will be deployed. The ambulance fleet has risen to 533 vehicles with addition of 44 Advanced Life Support ambulances — 22 each for Jammu and Kashmir — and bullet-proof ambulances are planned for border areas.
J&K will roll out a Cancer Control Strategy with NITI Aayog and ICMR, with Tata Memorial Centre collaboration. The UT has received national recognition under TB Mukt Panchayat, with 2,060 Panchayats declared TB-free.
Human resource measures include 480 Medical Officer posts referred to JKPSC, 582 paramedical posts to JKSSB, and 468 Medical Officers appointed in the past 1.5 years. Additionally, 268 faculty members have been engaged in GMCs on academic arrangement. Capacity expansion includes 340 MBBS seats, 128 PG seats, and 34 PG Ayurveda seats. Government Homoeopathic Medical College Kathua has started its second BHMS batch.
At SKIMS, the LINAC system is functional for cancer radiotherapy, with multiple high-end systems to be procured next year. Health indicators show NMR at 9.8 and IMR at 14.0, meeting SDG targets. Institutional deliveries have risen to 98.9–99.7%, while home deliveries dropped from 2,118 (2024–25) to 351 (2025–26).
J&K has 21 functional Addiction Treatment Facilities, covering all districts, with 1.5 lakh consultations delivered. Under the Circle of Care programme, 600 village counsellors have been trained. A 10-district substance abuse survey is planned.
Social Welfare Measures
The Minister said 28,186 Anganwadi Centres are operational, covering 8.41 lakh beneficiaries. About 99% function in proper buildings. 338 centres have been upgraded as Saksham Anganwadis, while 653 were upgraded as Bal Vidyalas under UT Capex. The government plans to upgrade 1,000 rented AWCs into Bal Vidyalas, increase capital allocation from Rs 67 crore to Rs 170 crore, and construct 127 new AWCs.
Social pensions for 10.19 lakh beneficiaries have been enhanced to Rs 1,250, Rs 1,500 and Rs 2,000 across categories, with 8.83 lakh ISSS beneficiaries fully funded by J&K सरकार. Marriage aid for AAY daughters has been raised to Rs 75,000, with 27,611 beneficiaries and Rs 234 crore disbursed till December 2025. Under Ladli Beti, 1,98,324 beneficiaries are covered, with Rs 500 crore earmarked this year.
Women Development Corporation supported 812 units with Rs 24.36 crore loans, generating 3,257 jobs. For SC/ST/OBC welfare, Rs 1,938.76 lakh loans were disbursed to 607 beneficiaries, creating 1,270 jobs. Thirteen SC hostels are functional and an SC/ST building costing Rs 8.07 crore will be completed this year.
Higher Education Expansion
Of 50 new degree colleges sanctioned in 2019, buildings for eight are complete and 24 under construction, with eight near completion. Architecture College Jammu is nearing completion and GCET Safapora’s architecture college is under construction. Under RUSA I & II, 35 infrastructure projects are complete.
Under PM-USHA, 18 new projects worth Rs 155 crore have been approved covering SMVDU, BGSBU, nine colleges and seven girls’ hostels. Government colleges currently offer 58 major UG programmes, while 65 colleges added 153 new courses in 2025. Through the centralised portal, 2,205 candidates were engaged on academic arrangement to ensure uninterrupted teaching.
Several MLAs participated in the grants debate, raising constituency concerns. Later, multiple members withdrew their cut motions after the Minister’s assurances, following which the House passed the grants by voice vote.
