Patients to rely on costly private diagnostic centres
*Lack of Nuclear Medicine Deptt, manpower add uncertainty
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, May 24: The much-hyped announcement regarding installation of advanced MRI and PET-Scan facilities in the Government Medical Colleges of Jammu and Kashmir is unlikely to translate into reality in the near future due to acute shortage of funds, procedural bottlenecks and absence of specialized manpower.
On February 6, 2026, the Union Territory Government announced that to strengthen diagnostics, the process for installing 1.5 Tesla MRIs in newly established Government Medical Colleges and 3 Tesla MRIs at Government Medical College Jammu, Government Medical College Srinagar and Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) had been initiated.
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However, official sources told EXCELSIOR that the Health and Medical Education Department currently does not have adequate funds at its disposal for placement of formal supply orders to translate the announcement into reality.
They disclosed that the Jammu and Kashmir Medical Supplies Corporation recently finalized the rate contract for procurement of 1.5 Tesla MRI machines for a period of two years. However, the actual number of MRI machines to be purchased will entirely depend upon the concurrence of the Finance Department to the Health and Medical Education Department for advance drawal of funds.
“As per the contract signed by the J&K Medical Supplies Corporation, unless around 90 percent payment is transferred to the company account, suppliers will not dispatch the MRI machines”, sources said, adding, “the chances of advance drawal from the Finance Department are minimal considering past financial practices, thereby casting serious doubts over timely implementation of the ambitious healthcare project”.
They further said, “though the Health and Medical Education Department will make a request to the Finance Department for advance drawal for installation of MRI machines in all the newly established Government Medical Colleges as well as existing GMCs, nobody knows for how many machines funds will be sanctioned”.
“In such a situation, there are remote chances of the much-hyped announcement becoming reality in the near future and the delay will directly impact patients requiring high-end investigations. In such a situation, patients will continue relying on costly private healthcare facilities outside Government institutions,” sources said.
Similar uncertainty surrounds the Government’s announcement regarding installation of PET-Scan facilities at Government Medical College Srinagar and Government Medical College Kathua during the current financial year to enhance cancer diagnostics.
According to sources, the tendering process for procurement of PET-Scan machines had to be initiated afresh after bidders quoted unexpectedly high rates during the earlier exercise.
“After opening of tenders, the department will still have to complete technical scrutiny and financial bid evaluation before allotment of contracts, a process expected to consume considerable time”, sources said, adding that apart from procurement hurdles, the Government presently lacks the mandatory institutional framework required for operationalizing PET-Scan facilities.
Separate Departments of Nuclear Medicine are yet to be established in both Government Medical Colleges. Moreover, Radiation Safety Officers, essential for handling PET-Scan facilities, are not available in Jammu and Kashmir, they informed.
They disclosed that proposals for creation of departments and manpower have only recently been sought from the concerned Medical Colleges. After scrutiny at the departmental level, the proposals will require concurrence from the Finance Department and subsequent approval from the Council of Ministers.
“Even after completion of these procedural formalities, the actual creation of departments, infrastructure, manpower and procurement and installation of PET-Scan facilities will take considerable time. As such, there are doubts about meeting the timeline of the current financial year announced by the Government in February this year,” sources said.
“The continued delay in procurement and commissioning of advanced diagnostic facilities has once again highlighted the widening gap between official announcements and ground-level execution in the healthcare sector”, they remarked, adding, “with projects entangled in fund shortages, repeated tendering exercises and bureaucratic approvals, thousands of patients across Jammu and Kashmir may have to wait much longer before modern diagnostic facilities become operational in Government hospitals”.
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