Avtar Bhat
JAMMU, Mar 13: Candidly admitting the Opposition MLAs charges that the state of affairs in the State owned Medical Colleges and Associated Hospitals is very bad, Minister of Medical and Technical Education, Youth Services and Sports Taj Mohi-ud-Din today informed the House that when there will be shortage of about one thousand staff members in the hospitals how can one expect their performance will be better.
Replying the debate on annual grants of Ministry of Heath and Medical Education in the Assembly during the second sitting, he said whatever BJP MLA, Jugal Kishore Sharma and NPP MLA Harshdev Singh said about the hospitals is true and there are no two thoughts about that. However soon after taking the reins of Medical Education, the Minister said some innovative steps were taken by him to make the functioning of the Medical Colleges and Associated Hospitals better in the State.
Taj Mohi-ud-Din said that though he could not make the medical colleges and associated hospitals of the State up to the international standard but his efforts will be to make them at par with the national standard.
He said there is shortage 87 faculty doctors in Jammu while there is shortage of 140 in Kashmir Medical College. Likewise there is shortage of 1000 junior nurses, 600 para medicos and 100 Safai Karamcharis, he added in GMC and its associated hospitals respectively.
Maintaining that sword of derecognition is hanging over the Medical Colleges of the State as it lacks the faculty and mere buildings can’t make hospitals as it needed trained faculty, the Minister said, changes need to be made in recruitment rules to retain the faculty at higher levels and also provide more incentives for their retention.
He said for 600 posts of para medicos the department has got 75,000 applications but the selection will be made through interviews.
Admitting that condition of wards, bathrooms and laboratories in GMC associated hospitals is very bad, the Minister said no attention was paid to the same in past and since the hospital was constructed no painting was done. The blue paint on its walls was giving an awkward look and terrifying the patients admitted there, he added.
He said the first thing he did after taking over is that he ordered the renovation of hospital and the work is going on and both Jammu and Srinagar hospitals are being re-modelled.
He said the GMC was a unique hospital in the world where the ICU was functioning in a ward over emergency and he shifted it.
The Minster said the maintenance of toilets, which used to be a common complaint with people, has been outsourced to Sulabh International, an NGO dealing with toilet maintenance. Similarly, the cleanliness in wards corridors and other places which used to be done manually would now be mechanized. The machines with cleaning capacity of 30,000 square feet per hour have been ordered and once put to use would revolutionize the cleaning process at these hospitals.
Taj said the Government has decided to procure the equipment needed in these hospitals like MRI, CT Scan, Cath lab etc. with the help of J&K Bank on cost benefit ratio and also to overcome the fund scarcity. The defunct Col Chopra Nursing Home, Jammu and Maternity Hospital, Sanatnagar, Srinagar would be revived and soon thrown open while Lal Ded Hospital in Srinagar is being added a new block which would ease the patient rush by a great measure.
Earlier the Minister moved that a sum of Rs 1923.01 crore be granted to the Government to defray the charges which will come in the course of payment during the year ending March 31, 2014.
Earlier Minister of State for Health Shabir Ahmed Khan said that to upgrade healthcare facilities, especially in the inaccessible areas, the Government would establish 400 new Health Sub- Centres besides 11 mobile medical units in the State during next financial year.
The Health Minister said health infrastructure development in the State was top priority of the Government. “A massive hospital construction developmental programme has been taken up at the total cost of Rs. 1419 crore across the State against which Rs. 777 crore have been expended so far under Centre and State Plans and the balanced amount of Rs. 648 crore is required for completion of these on-going projects which is being managed under the flagship programme NRHM and State Plan”, he added.
He said that Rs. 70 crore have been proposed for health infrastructure development under NRHM during the next financial year. He said 993 posts of various categories of doctors have been proposed to be engaged under NRHM for implementation of school health programme and new born healthcare.
In order to streamline the process of procurement of drugs and supplies, he said the Government has proposed setting up of J&K Medical Supplies Corporation. He said that Drug Policy has been framed to facilitate procurement, management of essential and generic drugs in Government hospitals, adding that it would also help in rational use of drugs in the State.
The School Health Programme, reversing the trend of decline in sex ratio; decreasing neo-natal mortality rate and promotion of AYUSH would be the areas of focus this year, said the Minister.
Giving details of physical and financial achievements registered under Health Sector during the current fiscal, the Minister said that health indicators in the State have improved considerably and are better than national average. He said infant mortality rate in 2011 was 41 out of 1000, while as maternal mortality ratio was 70 out of one lakh live births in the State. He said the total fertility rate in 2010 was 2.0, adding that these figures show that health indicators of the State are better than national average, he maintained.
The Minister said against Rs. 863.21 crore including State share of Rs. 152.43 crore under NRHM, Rs. 769.97 crore have been utilized for up-gradation of healthcare facilities across the State till January this year. He said recently the Centre has released supplementary funds to the tune of Rs. 84.55 crore under NRHM for creation and upgradation of health infrastructure which includes Rs. 25.72 crore for procurement of 200 ambulances and machinery equipment for new hospitals. Under 13th Finance Commission, Rs. 15.36 crore as first instalment was released by the Centre for reducing infant mortality rate in the State, whileas Rs. 20 crore were released for setting up of Ayurvedic Medical College, Jammu and Unani College at Srinagar, he added.
The Minister said that so far 4817 additional doctors/paramedicos were engaged under NRHM. Under Janani Surkasha Yojna (JSY) 4.67 lakh beneficiaries have been benefitted upto January 2013 and percentage of institutional deliveries has increased to 88.9 per cent.
The Minister said Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojna (RSBY) is being extended to 10 more districts in the State during next fiscal. He said Jammu and Kashmir is amongst the few States to launch pentavalent vaccine under immunization programme.
Mr. Shabir said that for the first time the Government has established its own Nursing Council in the State and process of framing its rules has been set in motion for the benefits of the students. To ensure rational deployment of doctors in remote areas new transfer policy has been introduced whereby the doctors selected under RBA/ALC categories will have to serve for 7 years in respective categories mandatorily.
The Minister said that several steps were taken to reverse the trend of declining sex ratio and Department of Health has dedicated year 2013 to “Save the Girl Child”. He said performance based awards have been introduced in the Health Department to encourage the doctors and para-medicos.
Keeping in view the growing demand of traditional treatment the Government has given focused attention to upgrade the AYUSH sector in the State. He said construction of Ayurvedic Medical College at Akhnoor and Unani Medical College at Ganderbal are in progress, adding that OPD in 50 bedded integrated Hospital at Harvan would start functioning soon. He said out of hundred under execution ISM dispensaries 30 are near completion.
Enumerating on completion of the construction of hospital complexes, the Minister said that Trauma Centres at Leh, Kargil, Qazigund, Manpur, Margund and Thathri stand completed. He said major hospital projects like OPD block of District Hospital Baramulla, 150 bedded IPD block JLNM Hospital Srinagar, new district hospital and diagnostic block DH Rajouri, 100 bedded DH Kishtwar, OPD block Unani Hospital Shaltang stand also completed while as the buildings of community health centres Bhaderwah, Beerwah, SDHs Kellar and Khansahib besides 56 PHCs and 48 Sub-Health Centres have been completed.
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