*No promotions, no DPCs, no Service Rules even after 6 yrs
Govind Sharma
JAMMU, May 10: Serious resentment is brewing among thousands of Non-Gazetted employees working in the five newly established Government Medical Colleges (GMCs) of Jammu and Kashmir over the Government’s continued failure to frame Service Recruitment Rules (SRRs), conduct Departmental Promotion Committees (DPCs), and provide any form of career progression since their appointments in 2019.
Despite completing nearly six years of service in critical healthcare institutions, around 3,000 Non-Gazetted employees posted in GMC Kathua, Doda, Rajouri, Anantnag and Baramulla continue to work without a single promotion or promotional avenue, leaving their careers completely paralyzed.
The employees, recruited through JKSSB in 2018 against posts created for strengthening healthcare infrastructure in the new GMCs, alleged that successive Governments and the Health & Medical Education (HME) Department have deliberately ignored their long pending demands while repeatedly constituting committees only to delay the matter further.
Ironically, while Gazetted officers in these institutions enjoy well-defined service structures, regular DPCs and timely promotions, the Non-Gazetted workforce — including Nursing, Paramedical, Technical, Ministerial and Class-IV staff — continues to suffer in silence without any policy for career advancement.
Employees said that several official committees and orders were issued by the HME Department from 2019 onwards regarding framing of SRRs and removal of anomalies, but till date nothing concrete has been implemented on ground. They termed the repeated assurances as “administrative eyewash” aimed only at buying time.
“We have spent the prime years of our service in these hospitals without a single promotion, without DPCs and without any career security. The Government has completely pushed us into professional stagnation,” said an employee from GMC Doda.
Another employee from GMC Rajouri alleged that the Non-Gazetted staff has been treated as a “neglected workforce” despite being the backbone of hospital functioning. “From wards to laboratories and emergency services, we are the people running the institutions day and night, yet our careers have been buried under official apathy,” he said.
“The continued non-finalization of Service Recruitment Rules has created massive frustration and uncertainty among the workforce,” said another employee from GMC Kathua. He added that many employees who joined service with hopes of professional growth now feel mentally exhausted and demoralized due to the Government’s indifferent attitude.
The aggrieved employees also alleged that the absence of proper service rules has badly affected institutional discipline and administrative functioning in the new GMCs. “How can any institution function properly when thousands of employees have no promotional hierarchy, no defined progression and no future roadmap?” they questioned.
Demanding immediate framing and notification of SRRs, conduct of pending DPCs and establishment of a transparent promotion mechanism for all Non-Gazetted categories working in the five new GMCs, the employees warned that if the Government continues to ignore the issue, the frustration among the workforce may soon translate into a large-scale protest movement across all five medical colleges of J&K.
When contacted, M Raju, Secretary, Health & Medical Education Department, said the process for framing Service Recruitment Rules for Non-Gazetted employees of new GMCs had already been initiated. However, he did not specify any timeline for its completion or finalization.
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