“The change in the administrative hierarchy of the J&K Medical Education Department is quite different from the one followed in the Medical Education Departments of almost all the states and union territories of the country”.
The creation of Medical Education Directorate in Jammu & Kashmir recently announced by the Administrative Secretary Health and Medical Education Department won’t by any standards of understandability ease the delivery of health services or strengthen the academics at medical colleges but would further complicate their working by the intervention of yet another Junior Scale IAS officer as Director Medical Education. The implementation of the decision would unnecessarily bring over the head of Medical College Principals of Jammu & Kashmir yet another IAS officer of Additional or Special Secretary rank to clear the proposals of infrastructural development, supplies and postings of doctors at medical colleges in all the twenty districts across Jammu & Kashmir. The decision would as such only reduce the burden of official work of the Administrative Secretary Health & Medical Education and bring under more bureaucratic stress the Principals of Medical College in all the 20 districts of Jammu & Kashmir. Interestingly the change in the administrative hierarchy of the J&K Medical Education Department is quite different from the one followed in the Medical Education Departments of almost all the states and union territories of the country. Look at the administrative hierarchy that has been devised for Post Graduate Institute (PGI) Of Medical Science Chandigarah or All India Institute Of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) New Delhi and Medical Colleges of several states and union territories and just think about the changes which are being introduced in the J&K Medical Education Department without proper application of mind under new Health Minister who has been herself a medical college student.
“Though experiences show that running Medical Colleges under Director Medical Education won’t be as easy as is the working of Degree Colleges under Director Colleges of the Higher Education Department but still the Government has decided to create the position of Director Medical Education without proper application of mind. Administrative wisdom demands that before taking a final call on creating Medical Education Director the Principals of the all the 20 medical colleges of Jammu & Kashmir should have been taken Board. Much better it would have been for the Government to constitute a panel of medical experts of national repute and also take on board the Principals of all the 20 medical colleges of Jammu & Kashmir before announcing the decision about creation of Medical Education Directorate”.
The fact deserving the attention and intervention of the Chief Minister and Health Minister is that while the Principals of Medical Colleges Of Srinagar and Jammu are in their ex-officio capacities holding the positions of Deans of Medical faculties of Kashmir and Jammu universities respectively and sit in the university council meetings, the creating of Medical Education Directorate has now unfortunately made them subservient to Director Medical Education hopefully a Junior Scale IAS officer. Though experiences show that running Medical Colleges under Director Medical Education won’t be as easy as is the working of Degree Colleges under Director Colleges of the Higher Education Department but still the Government has decided to create the position of Director Medical Education without proper application of mind. Administrative wisdom demands that before taking a final call on creating Medical Education Director the Principals of the all the 20 medical colleges of Jammu & Kashmir should have been taken Board. Much better it would have been for the Government to constitute a panel of medical experts of national repute and also take on board the Principals of all the 20 medical colleges of Jammu & Kashmir before announcing the decision about creation of Medical Education Directorate.
