The Healthcare Investment Policy of Jammu and Kashmir, announced with much enthusiasm in 2019, was meant to usher in a new era of private healthcare development. Backed by lucrative incentives and a declared intent to establish a Medicity in Jammu, it promised to bridge the glaring gap in medical infrastructure across the Union Territory. Yet, over six years later, the policy remains buried under layers of bureaucratic inertia. No private hospital project has taken off, and Medicity remains a mirage. What was once touted as a visionary step has turned into another example of the Government’s apathy towards a critical public need.
The crisis is especially acute in Jammu. The district not only caters to its growing urban population but also serves as the primary healthcare hub for all nine other districts of the Jammu division. The burden multiplies during winter when a sizeable population from Kashmir and Ladakh migrates to Jammu for months, seeking relief from harsh weather and better healthcare. This annual demographic shift puts an enormous and predictable strain on the city’s already overstretched medical facilities. GMC Jammu-once envisioned as a premier tertiary care hospital-is now bearing the brunt of this imbalance. Its wards overflow with patients, outpatient departments are packed from dawn until dusk, and surgeries are often scheduled months in advance. The hospital’s infrastructure and human resources are stretched far beyond capacity. While newly established GMCs in districts like Doda, Rajouri and Kathua may eventually help share the load, it will take years before they reach a level of readiness to handle complex and specialised cases.
In this grim scenario, developing a robust private healthcare ecosystem in Jammu is not a luxury-it is a necessity. The absence of quality private hospitals leaves citizens with only two options: rely on the overburdened public system or travel to Punjab, Chandigarh, or Delhi for treatment. Every year, thousands of patients from Jammu and surrounding districts spend enormous sums for medical care outside the UT, a drain not only on personal finances but also on the local economy.
The 2019 Healthcare Investment Policy had generated tremendous interest among reputed private players like Fortis, Medanta, Yashoda, Park and Capitol Group, who collectively proposed investments worth over Rs3,300 crore. Yet, all these plans have stagnated because the Government has failed to perform the most basic task-identifying and allotting suitable land. The offer of land at the old Resin Factory in Miran Sahib serves as a prime example. Investors found the site unsuitable-far from the main city, poorly connected, and lacking supporting infrastructure. Predictably, the proposals were rejected. However, instead of identifying an alternative, feasible site, the administration allowed the matter to drift. The failure to resolve such a simple yet crucial issue exposes the lack of seriousness and coordination between departments.
For a medical facility-particularly a super-speciality hospital-to thrive, location is everything. Accessibility, connectivity, and availability of civic infrastructure determine both operational viability and patient trust. The Government must therefore prioritise identifying a suitable land pool in an area that meets these criteria.
A well-planned Medicity in Jammu would not only provide healthcare facilities but also emerge as a major investment and employment generator. The economic ripple effect would be substantial. The examples are all around. In neighbouring Punjab, cities like Pathankot, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, and Amritsar have transformed into healthcare hubs with world-class multi-speciality hospitals offering affordable care.
The way forward is clear. The UT administration must revisit its industrial and healthcare investment policies with a singular focus-establishing a mega Medicity in Jammu. The process should be transparent, time-bound, and investor-friendly. The Government must move beyond policy paperwork to concrete execution, ensuring coordination among departments and accountability for delays. Healthcare is not merely a welfare sector-it is a cornerstone of development and human security. Jammu’s citizens deserve more than promises on paper
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