No riddle to solve this, but it being all a classical example of how at the implementation stage, the welfare schemes especially concerning the career of the students of the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) of Government of India, utter non -seriousness being manifest could render the utility of the scheme in itself as being in the void , if not wholly irrelevant . It hardly matters that when the push coming to the shove, perhaps, in terms of the prospects of fixing of accountability as to why funds allocated were allowed to get lapsed due to non spending , last minute activities and even crash spending are resorted to. In most of the cases , again, the same bears no fruits due to the COVID related constraints and restrictions. Coming to the core point , additional 10 percent quota of EWS students’ MBBS seats requiring additional but matching infrastructure , mandatory for getting recognition by the National Medical Council of India under the set norms, in the GMC Jammu, for that purpose , the UT Government got Rs.32.4 crore from Government of India which could not be spent and utilized for the specific purpose and allowed to lapse twice. The funds allotted were for the additional 30 seats sanctioned under the said quota thus total number of the MBBS seats reaching to 180 in the GMC, Jammu . As soon as the said funds were received , realising the importance of the issue, especially when 90 percent itself was paid under the scheme by the Central Government, the money was passed on to and released in favour of the GMC, Jammu by the Government of Jammu and Kashmir in 2020 within ten days of receipt of the funds for raising the required infrastructure for these 30 additional students in order to fall eligible for their getting recognition by the National Medical Council of India. Agreed, the entire administration of the GMC Jammu was deeply engaged in attending to the management of the COVID infected patients for most of the year and also for that very reason the inspection team of the NMC too could not visit the GMC Jammu but the months of February to April when the impact of the pandemic was minimal, most of the job under the scheme could have been done which , however, did not take place, again due to unknown constraints faced by the GMC administration. We have no qualms about the extent of the difficult position faced last year almost by all institutions and organisations , more so by the likes of the GMC Jammu etc due to an entirely new challenge to the human race itself in the shape of COVID-19 pandemic due to which all planning and targets fixed to be attended to and implemented , got adversely impacted but a short period of four months of comparative relief and respite due to vast overall improvement in the pandemic position could have been utilized by the GMC administration in procuring the equipment and also raising other important infrastructure which unfortunately was not done and the short but valuable period made to fritter away . This year also, Health and Medical Education Department released Rs.32.4 crore to the Government Medical College , Jammu for the said purpose but action process started only at the fag – end of the financial year , say just a week before and nothing could obviously be done except watching funds getting lapsed again for the second time. The present position in and around institutions related to health welfare hardly needs any elaboration as the second wave of the pandemic with its full fury is bound to affect all types of activities related to raising of infrastructure etc and whether the job would be done in the next few months hangs in balance as being inversely related to the behaviour of the pandemic and how early it could be contained and controlled. Could the “job” be done even under the present challenging situation is a challenge to an able and skilled management , it is better to accept the challenge and emerge successful.
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