While female nurses are upset over a controversial duty roster at S K Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) Srinagar, the retired medicos and paramedics are fuming over the unprecedented delay caused in the disbursement of their wages of last several months. Health warriors becoming the casualty of administrative waywardness shows that not the health safety but a controversial developmental initiative captioned “back to village program” undertaken just to grant political space to non political entities is the priority of the government in Jammu & Kashmir. While the reports about the grievance redressal programs presided over by the advisors of the Lieutenant Governor and administrative secretaries appear in news papers daily, the top public functionaries overseeing the working of covid health care hospitals in government run hospitals don’t pay heed to the grievances of the female nurses of SKIMS the Kashmir’s top referral hospital and re-engaged retired medicos and paramedics put on job for improvement in covid health care facilities in government run hospitals. The collapsing covid health management system though deserves immediate attention and intervention of Lt Governor Manoj Sinha, his advisors and Chief Secretary but they have massively got engaged themselves with the ongoing “back to village program” so much that they don’t find time to look into the intensifying health safety issues crippling covid health management system in the hospitals across Jammu & Kashmir.
Rising public concerns over the health safety management in hospitals demands the immediate attention and intervention of the Lt Governor, his advisors, Chief Secretary and divisional commissioners of both Kashmir valley and Jammu division. A shift in covid health management policy has almost become unavoidable to bring under control the increasing spread of COVID-19 across Jammu & Kashmir.
Unfortunately the SKIMS Srinagar and GMC Jammu are in news for wrong reasons as the shortage of ventilators amid intensifying covid spread triggers protests in twin capital cities. Instead of “back to village program” the government should have embarked on a massive health care facility initiative across Jammu & Kashmir. The funds utilized on “back to village program” should have been diverted to covid health care management plans in the interests of health safety of the covid patients across Jammu & Kashmir . For people in any part of the world development comes next to safety of human lives and as such administrative wisdom demands that “back to village program” a development initiative should be suspended to shift the total focus of the government to covid healthcare management system in government run hospitals in both Kashmir valley and as well as Jammu division. Rising public concerns over the health safety management in hospitals demands the immediate attention and intervention of the Lt Governor, his advisors, Chief Secretary and divisional commissioners of both Kashmir valley and Jammu division. A shift in covid health management policy has almost become unavoidable to bring under control the increasing spread of COVID-19 across Jammu & Kashmir.
