| Civil society demands transparency, cardiac emergency, audit of medical referral practices: Balvinder | | |  early times report
Jammu, July 12: S Balvinder Singh renowned RTI Activist of the state while addressing the media persons stated that in a major initiative to strengthen healthcare infrastructure in Jammu Province, the Government of India sanctioned the establishment of four new Government Medical Colleges (GMCs). GMC Rajouri was established in 2016, with its first batch of 100 MBBS students admitted in 2019. Singh recalled the promise made on 17th November 2013, when then Health & Family Welfare Minister Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad inaugurated the Super Speciality Hospital (SSH) to end patients’ arduous journeys to PGI and AIIMS for specialized care. Yet, that vision remains unfulfilled—many departments at SSH never became fully functional, and sanctioned staff appointments were never made. Even today, Jammu lacks a dedicated Cardiac Emergency in SSH, forcing heart attack patients to first visit GMC’s Emergency before being shifted to SSH, losing the critical 'golden hour' in transit. Tragically, some precious human lives lost in this delay.
The foundation stones of GMC Doda and GMC Kathua were laid on 11th June 2017 by the then Union Health Minister, Sh. J.P. Nadda, and the then Chief Minister, Ms. Mehbooba Mufti. Both institutions became operational in 2020. GMC Doda was intended to serve nearly 10 lakh residents of the erstwhile Doda district—comprising Doda, Kishtwar, and Ramban—while GMC Kathua was envisioned to cater to remote and border areas such as Bani, Basholi, and Billawar. GMC Udhampur was established in 2023 to meet the growing demand for healthcare services and training.
Additionally, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Jammu was inaugurated by Hon’ble Prime Minister Sh. Narendra Modi on 19th February 2024. It was projected as a transformative step to reduce dependency on Delhi for specialized treatment.
However, as highlighted by Mr. Balvinder Singh, despite these developments, the healthcare delivery system remains inadequate. Citing an RTI response from GMC Jammu, he pointed out that a significant number of patients continue to be referred to GMC Jammu—not only from CHCs, PHCs, Sub District Hospital & District Hospital but also from the newly established GMCs of Rajouri, Kathua, Doda and Udhampur.
The referral data from January to May 2025 received under RTI raises serious concerns about the operational readiness of these institutions. Mr. Singh attributed this troubling trend to the persistent absence of senior doctors in peripheral Government Medical Colleges, alleging that many are preoccupied with private practice, thereby leaving junior doctors to handle critical cases without adequate supervision. |
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