Sanction to 12 more DNB seats in Medical Sciences to Jammu & Kashmir by National Board of Examination (NBE) is obviously a decision which would further the causes of the availability of doctors at the Government hospitals in the remotest areas of Jammu & Kashmir but finally all depends on the availability of quality teaching staff and latest medical infrastructural facilities in the medical colleges set up in recent years in many districts of both Kashmir Valley and Jammu division . With this addition of 12 more DNB seats the total no of DNB seats sanctioned for Jammu & Kashmir has reached 282 and surely so for so good. The sanction of DNB seats would surely go well with the emerging challenges of the availability of healthcare facilities in Government hospitals in major towns and remotest villages across Jammu & Kashmir. Since Central Government has already increased the number of medical seats for the medical colleges of Jammu and Kashmir, the sanction to 12 DNB seats to Jammu & Kashmir shows the Government’s interest in increasing the accessibility of people to latest healthcare facilities in more and more inaccessible areas across Jammu & Kashmir. While increasing the no of medical seats reduces the scope for the medical students to seek admissions in medical colleges outside Jammu & Kashmir besides addressing the pressing issue of the availability of doctors at Government run hospitals in both Kashmir Valley and as well Jammu division, the availability of latest technological equipments at medical colleges and basic health infrastructure in rural hospitals being equally hard pressed health care issues also deserves similar attention and intervention by the Government. The decisions like increasing the DNB seats would though address the issue of availability doctors but basic healthcare infrastructural facilities in Government run hospitals and latest technological facilities at the medical colleges set up in recent years in several districts besides adequate teaching staff at such colleges are much bigger challenges for the Government.
“Availability of latest technological facilities and adequate teaching staff at the medical colleges set up in recent years in many districts for better training of doctors pursuing undergraduate, post graduate or post doctoral courses deserves immediate attention of the Government for the purposes of improving the medical education system in Jammu & Kashmur. Though increasing the no of seats in medical colleges would go well with the purpose of increasing the availability of doctors in Government hospitals but the availability of competent faculty and latest technological medical facilities in the medical colleges set up in recent years remains the concerns in view of increasing concern on quality of medical staff at Government hospitals”.
Undoubtedly increasing DNB seats will give an opportunity to the doctors trained in local medical colleges to serve the people of their own areas in both Kashmir Valley and Jammu division, but finally availability of better talent would widen the scope for improvement in the quality health services at Government run hospitals. Availability of latest technological facilities and adequate teaching staff at the medical colleges set up in recent years in many districts for better training of doctors pursuing undergraduate, post graduate or post doctoral courses deserves immediate attention of the Government for the purposes of improving the medical education system in Jammu & Kashmir. Though increasing the no of seats in medical colleges would go well with the purpose of increasing the availability of doctors in Government hospitals but the availability of competent faculty and latest technological medical facilities in the medical colleges set up in recent years remains the concerns in view of increasing concern on quality of medical staff at Government hospitals.