J-K planning dept sanctions 400 posts of docs, paramedics

"The Planning department has approved 400 posts for the hospitals and other healthcare institutions under the ISM (Unani and Ayurvedic). The process is in final stages now," state Health Minister Sham Lal Sharma told PTI.

The minister said his department had sent a bigger requirement of manpower including doctors and paramedics but the Planning department has only approved 400 posts which includes around 100 posts of doctors.

"The state government is focusing on diagnostic side where we did not have enough manpower," Sharma said.

He said the ISM hospitals and healthcare units in the state were currently being managed through internal arrangements.

"Our requirement for doctors is not very high... We need technical people to assist the doctors," he added.

The minister said most of the contractual and ad-hoc ISM doctors have been regularised.

According to sources, the Health department had sent a proposal of creating 1,088 posts of doctors and paramedics to the Planning department in 2009 for improving the healthcare facilities.

They said there was little action on the proposal till the recent hue and cry about the high number of death in tertiary care hospitals like G B Pant children's hospital, SKIMS Soura and SMGS hospital in Jammu.

The doctors had blamed huge rush of patients at the referral hospitals due to lack of facilities in Primary health centres, sub-district hospitals and district hospitals in the state.