Reacting to the great rush of patients in two Government Medical Colleges in the State, one in Srinagar and the other in Jammu, the High Court Bench has ordered the Department of Health to fill the 40 per cent quota of faculty members lying vacant in these two colleges. According to the affidavit submitted by the Secretary-Commissioner Health Department, a large number of faculties remain vacant. Why the department has not filled these and thus provided the needy people medical facilities is not understood. Even the High Court was unable to understand why these vacancies were left unfilled. Even the plea of having made “in charge” arrangement was considered meaningless by the High Court keeping in mind the great rush of patients.
Surprisingly, the Health Department did not even take resort to SRO that would have alleviated the difficulties of the people till the vacancies were filled. The Bench was right in observing that SRO would have been the right alternative till the posts were filled. The order of the court suggests that the department has not been very responsive to the needs of the public crying for medical assistance. This is a reflection on the Health Department. We welcome the order of the court that the vacancies in both the medical colleges should be filled through regular PSC process. The sooner it is done the better.
It should be mentioned that even some district level hospitals are not having adequate manpower in terms of doctors and other attendant staff. The Health Department should also take into consideration of providing the District level hospitals with sanctioned staff so that patients in rural areas are not compelled to seek admission in premier medical institutions in the two capital cities this increasing the rush in these hospitals.
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