NMC standards expose deep faculty crisis in J&K Medical Colleges

Srinagar, Dec 9: The National Medical Commission (NMC) has delivered a stark wake-up call to medical colleges across India, and for Jammu & Kashmir’s expanding medical education sector, the picture is grim.

A department-wise mandatory faculty strength notified by the NMC earlier this week shows that J&K’s Government Medical Colleges (GMCs) fall far short of the required numbers under Minimum Standard Requirements (MSR) 2023.

In a written reply in Parliament, Union Health Minister JP Nadda detailed the faculty strength that every MBBS college must maintain. For a 150-seat institution, the NMC mandates 129 core teaching faculty, 60 senior residents and 37 tutors/demonstrators — a total of 226 full-time teaching staff across 23 clinical and pre-clinical departments. J&K currently has six medical colleges operating with 150 or more MBBS seats: GMC Srinagar, GMC Jammu, GMC Baramulla, GMC Kathua, GMC Doda and ASCOMS Jammu.

For colleges with 200 MBBS seats — a category GMC Srinagar and GMC Jammu moved into this academic year — the requirements are even higher: 20 professors, 51 associate professors, 70 assistant professors, 40 tutors/demonstrators and 73 senior residents. In the Department of General Medicine alone, the NMC prescribes four professors, six associate professors, nine assistant professors and 12 senior residents.

However, faculty strength in J&K’s colleges is nowhere close. GMC Srinagar alone has 175 vacant faculty positions, affecting both patient care and teaching quality. Recruitment exercises have been sporadic and slow, leaving key departments stretched thin. SKIMS Medical College Hospital has acknowledged a 60% shortage of faculty.

The scenario is worse in newly established medical colleges, many of which struggle to attract qualified faculty due to geographical disadvantage and limited incentives. GMC Handwara, GMC Doda, GMC Rajouri and other newer institutions have more than 100 faculty vacancies each, officials said. Many colleges have been relying on internal adjustments, contractual hiring and lateral entry to run departments at a basic functional level.

Several posts are yet to be referred to recruitment agencies, while those advertised remain under process. Officials said recent NMC assessments flagged multiple J&K colleges for having less than 50% professor-level faculty in core departments — a violation that may affect renewals and seat permissions.

In Parliament, Minister Nadda informed that the NMC has framed the MSR 2023 and Medical Institutions (Qualification of Faculty) Regulations 2025 to ensure adequate human resources in medical colleges. He said all teaching staff must be full-time and barred from private practice during working hours, while visiting faculty may be allowed to strengthen undergraduate training.