Now when life is restoring to the days of pre-covid normality in Jammu & Kashmir like other parts of the country, the deepening concerns about the health services don’t let people come out of the trauma through which they have passed during last more than two years of covid-19 pandemic in Jammu & Kashmir like several other parts of the country. In fact pandemic has changed public perception about a responsive health system so much so that people are not satisfied with the infrastructural facilities and consequently the delivery of basic health services more in semi-urban and rural parts of Jammu & Kashmir than the twin capital cities Srinagar and Jammu and major towns of both Kashmir valley and Jammu division. While the people want the government to focus on the upgradation of basic health infrastructure and delivery of health services in government run hospitals across Jammu & Kashmir, the upgradation of both health infrastructure and as well as delivery of basic health services does not get the attention it deserves to address the rising concerns of people on delivery of health services. Unfortunately even in 21st century the shortage of doctors and paramedics in rural hospitals continue to be the areas of deeper public concern in Jammu & Kashmir. Recruitments for other departments can be put on hold but recruitments of doctors and paramedics can’t be put on hold or dragged on for years together in view of the rising concerns of the people on the delivery of basic health services in government run hospitals in Jammu & Kashmir. Top referral hospitals of Jammu and Srinagar still referring patients to top referral hospitals of Delhi and other metropolitan cities of the country for advanced treatments shows that even the top referral hospitals of Srinagar and Jammu are not equipped well to treat patients suffering from critical ailments to the satisfaction of both the doctors and the patients.
Paucity of funds could be a cause of delay in upgradation of infrastructural facilities in government run hospital but it should not become a cause of delay in the recruitment of doctors and para medics for the purposes of reducing shortage of doctors and paramedics in government run hospitals in semi urban and rural areas of Jammu & Kashmir.
What merits a mention here is the fact that though Jammu & Kashmir is fortunate enough to produce best doctors in almost all the key disciplines of health sciences but unfortunately hospitals are not equipped well to treat the patients suffering from critical ailments. Paucity of funds could be a cause of delay in upgradation of infrastructural facilities in government run hospital but it should not become a cause of delay in the recruitment of doctors and para medics for the purposes of reducing shortage of doctors and paramedics in government run hospitals in semi urban and rural areas of Jammu & Kashmir.
