Understaffed GMC

Government Medical College, the premier institute in Jammu is severely handicapped by shortage of teaching, technical and para-medical staff. For years at end, despite repeated exhortation by hospital authorities, the Government has neither taken a serious note of ground situation into account nor has attempted to consider the suffering faced by patients who throng the GMC for diagnosis and treatment.
It is strange that GMC Jammu and its Super Specialty Hospital both have the sanctioned strength of teaching faculty which means the budget provides for their salary and other requirements. Despite that large number of posts in the GMC and SSH have remained vacant for a long time. The question is how can an understaffed Medical College and Hospital do justice to the patients who come with the hope of receiving attention and treatment at the hands of experienced and qualified doctors. Disappointed by non-availability of particular specialized treatment, people are forced either to take the patient outside the State for treatment or to the private hospitals within the State. In either case, it puts heavy burden on patients who are not financially strong to get treatment from a private hospital. According to information that we possess over 30 per cent posts of Associate Professors, 50 per cent posts of Assistant Professors, 40 per cent posts of Lecturers and 20 percent posts of Registrars are presently lying vacant in the GMC Jammu. Besides the post of Principal, the GMC Jammu has the sanctioned strength of 62 posts of Associate Professors in various faculties out of which 44 are functioning at present while rest are vacant. Likewise out of 75 sanctioned Assistant Professors posts in the college, 38 are functioning at present while rest are vacant for years together. Out of 121 sanctioned posts of Lecturers in the GMC Jammu, only 78 are functioning while rests of them remain vacant. The College has also the sanctioned strength of 119 Registrars in various departments, out of which 95 are working and rest are vacant. Besides, in Super Specialty Hospital, the Government has created 250 posts for nurses out of which 177 are working while the rest are vacant. Apart from these vacancies, there are other serious deficiencies also that add to the discomfiture of the patients and inefficiency in the functionality of the college. Neurosurgery and Neurology Departments are totally defunct as posts of Professors and Associate Professors are totally lying vacant. Even in Urology Department the posts of Professor and Associate Professor are lying vacant and same is the case in Nephrology Department.
This alarming shortage in manpower in the GMC and its Super Specialty Hospital is causing much suffering to the weaker sections of society and running the Medical College and its adjoining hospital with this alarming shortage of faculties contravenes the rules and stipulations of the Medical Council of India. The strength of faculties is approved by the MCI and as such, the norms have to be observed in any case. The MCI can raise objections to this situation at any time.
Leaving the GMC and SSH in this condition, the State Government is nursing the ambition of opening five more Medical Colleges in the State. Actually, the foundation stone for one of the five colleges has been laid by the Union Minister for Health. The question is if the Government is not able to provide adequate teaching faculties to the already established college, meaning the GMC, how it is going to meet the entire requirement of teaching faculties in the proposed new Medical Colleges.  Unfortunately, politics has become the deciding factor in many technical matters in our State and the result is total chaos. The Principal of the GMC has not been confirmed though he has been performing the duties of the head of the institution for last three years. His several supplications have gone unnoticed. If this is the state of administration, we cannot expect much from the present Government.