The continued delay in the implementation of the second phase of the three-tier faculty system in GMCs Srinagar and Jammu is both perplexing and damaging. While the system has been fully rolled out in all newly established medical and dental colleges across J&K, the UT’s two oldest medical institutions remain glaringly excluded. This disparity not only undermines faculty morale but threatens the overall standard of healthcare delivery and medical education in the region. The first phase-upgrading lecturer posts to Assistant Professors-was a welcome step, but it remains incomplete without corresponding increases in Associate Professor and Professor positions. This imbalance has led to stagnation, where highly experienced faculty members find themselves blocked from further advancement, creating bottlenecks in institutional growth. The promised benefits of the three-tier system-career progression, improved faculty dynamics, better patient care, and expanded student intake-are therefore left unrealised.
One of the most critical consequences of this delay is the disruption of fresh recruitment. Without new posts being sanctioned at various levels, opportunities for aspiring medical educators remain scarce. This, in turn, contributes to brain drain, as young and talented professionals seek employment outside J&K where career advancement is assured. Furthermore, the inability to add new faculty undermines teaching quality and patient care in these premier institutions that serve a significant portion of the region’s population.
The health sector should never be stymied by financial hesitations, especially when the structural reforms have already been approved at the highest administrative levels and implemented elsewhere. The Minister for Health & Medical Education’s clarification should accelerate decision-making and unshackle the process currently caught in bureaucratic inertia. The Government must act decisively and with urgency. It is illogical and unjust to deprive faculty at the oldest GMCs of the same career structure and opportunities afforded to their peers in newer institutions. Equal treatment is a foundation for sustainable medical excellence in Jammu and Kashmir. The time to follow up, resolve interdepartmental discrepancies, and implement the second phase of the three-tier system is now. Anything less would be a disservice to both the faculty and the people they serve.
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