Healthcare takes hit, Tertiary care hospitals get overloaded
Fayaz Bukhari
SRINAGAR, July 24: Majority of the administrative positions in the Health Department in Kashmir are being held by juniors and blue eyed as the Health and Medical Education Department has promoted juniors to higher administrative positions recently throwing its own seniority list to the winds.
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Not only this, Director Coordination New Government Medical Colleges (GMCs), Dr Mushtaq Ahmad Rather and Director Health Services Kashmir (DHSK), Dr Jehangir Bakshi, are holding additional charges of Director Family Welfare, MCH and Immunization J&K and Project Director AIDS Control Society J&K respectively, blocking the career prospects of the other doctors.
Dr Rather is from the Medical Education Department and is not eligible for the Director Family Welfare post. The Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) earlier this year in a case titled Dr Poonam Sethi versus Union Territory of J&K and Dr Rather in its order dated 26-03-2025 set aside the Government order 893-JK(HME) of 2024 dated 23-12-2024 under which Dr Rather was given additional charge of Director Family Welfare.
The Court directed Dr Rather’s removal from the additional charge and appointment of a deserving candidate at his place but the Department didn’t honour that order.
Majority of the administrative positions in the Health Department in Kashmir are held by the blue-eyed juniors and in H&ME Department’s recent order (No. 429-JK(HME) of 2025 dated 28-06-2025) not a single senior doctor was promoted but all the 33 doctors who were promoted to administrative positions are juniors.
Dr Masrat Iqbal who figures at serial number 543 in the seniority list was posted as Chief Medical Officer Baramulla under the order. He was confirmed as Medical Officer in 2001 while around 300 Medical Officers of 1997 batch have been left out without any elevation. He was six months earlier promoted as Medical Superintendent District Hospital Bandipora vide order No. 915-JK(HME) of 2024 dated 29-12-2024.
In the same order, Dr Fara Shafi who has been confirmed as MO in 2002 and figures at serial number 732 in the seniority list has been promoted as Medical Superintendent of District Hospital Ganderbal. An official said that the doctor is not even eligible for the post of Block Medical Officer as of now as per the service rules.
Dr Adil Hussain Kango figuring at serial number 441 in the seniority list has been posted as MS Bone and Joints Hospital Srinagar and Dr Asif Ali Khanday figuring at serial number 635 in the seniority list has been posted as MS DH Bandipora.
Dr Nighat Yasmeen Sheikh who was made In-Charge Deputy Director (headquarters) figures at serial number 245 in the seniority list and is junior to at least half a dozen Mos. Similarly, Dr Saba Wani has also been posted In-Charge Deputy Director (Schemes) and she figures at serial number 257 in the seniority list and is junior to over one dozen MOs.
Dr Sheikh was given three promotions in the last 8 months and Dr Wani two in the last six months. Earlier, they were promoted vide Government order 915 -JK(HME) of 2024 dated 29-12-2024 and Sheikh was earlier given promotion as MS DH Ganderbal vide Government order 559 -JK(HME) of 2024 dated 15-08-2024.
Dr Arshad Rafi who is the junior most Medical Officer figuring at serial number 719 in the seniority list is posted as controller stores. He has surpassed hundreds of senior Medical Officers and was posted earlier this year under order no 161-JK(HME) of 2025 dated 19-02-2025.
Dr Andleeb Bashir with seniority position of 357 has been MS SMHS hospital Srinagar since Feb this year. Similarly, Dr Asifa Jan who is in the seniority list at 963 is holding the post of Deputy MS JNLM Hospital Srinagar and Dr Sheikh Ishfaq who has seniority at 911 is working as Deputy MS Children’s Hospital Srinagar.
On the issue, Health Minister Sakina Itoo told reporters that for them all doctors are equal and there is no favouritism. “We will examine it. If there is some injustice, we will rectify it,” she said.
An official said that promoting blue eyed juniors and ignoring the seniors is impacting the healthcare system in Kashmir. “As these hospitals are run by juniors and influential, it impacts the functioning in these hospitals as they resort to referrals, overburdening the tertiary care hospitals. There is an urgent need to streamline the Health Department,” he said.
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