Health sector tops J&K vacancy list with over 7,000 posts lying vacant

Srinagar, Nov 1: Jammu and Kashmir’s public health system is grappling with an acute manpower crisis, with official data revealing that nearly one-third of all vacant government posts in the Union Territory are in the Health and Medical Education Department.

Figures presented in the Assembly show that out of 17,953 unfilled government positions across departments, a staggering 7,285 are in the health sector alone. These include 5,300 non-gazetted and 1,985 gazetted posts — making healthcare the single largest area of vacancy within the administration.

The numbers underline a widening gap between infrastructure growth and human resource availability. While the government maintains that J&K has one of the densest healthcare networks in the country — with over 4,000 health institutions and one facility for every 3,500 people, compared to the national average of 6,000 — the shortage of medical and paramedical staff continues to erode service delivery.

In rural and remote districts, the impact is particularly severe. Many Primary Health Centres (PHCs), Sub-District Hospitals (SDHs), and newly established wellness centres are operating with minimal staff or remain partially functional. In some cases, doctors and paramedics are being deployed on rotation from other facilities, further stretching limited resources.

Despite these figures, the government has ruled out any immediate measures to fill the gap through ad hoc or contractual hiring. Citing Finance Department Order No. 43-F of 2015, officials said there is a complete ban on temporary, consolidated, or need-based engagements across departments, including health. “Engagement of staff under hospital development funds does not fall within the permissible framework,” the official reply stated.

Moreover, the government has made it clear that it is not considering upgrading Primary Health Centres (PHCs) to higher-level facilities such as Community Health Centres (CHCs) or Sub-District Hospitals (SDHs). The Health Department said it is instead focusing on “consolidation and rationalisation” of existing resources.

“As per Indian Public Health Standards (IPHS) 2022, a district with a population of up to 20 lakh can have one district hospital and two SDHs. J&K already has more SDHs than what is permissible under these norms,” the government noted.

To mitigate the impact of staff shortages, officials said efforts are underway to expand telemedicine services through the e-Sanjeevani platform, using a hub-and-spoke model to connect patients in peripheral areas with specialists at district and tertiary-level hospitals.

However, health experts warn that technology alone cannot compensate for the absence of frontline health workers.