Srinagar, Sep 25: Nearly four out of five sanctioned posts of Senior Consultants in Jammu and Kashmir’s health institutions are lying vacant, highlighting a severe shortage of specialist doctors in the government healthcare system, particularly in rural, peripheral and far-flung areas.
The shortage is likely to compound dependence on referrals for patients requiring specialised treatment, with the government data showing significant vacancies across several key categories of medical and paramedical staff.
A written reply by the Health and Medical Education (H&ME) Department in the Legislative Assembly, in response to a starred question by MLA Saifullah Mir on the “poor quality of healthcare” in J&K, showed that only 11 of the 51 sanctioned posts of Senior Consultants are currently filled.
As many as 40 posts are vacant, translating into a vacancy rate of nearly 78 percent.
The shortage extends to Consultants as well. Against 936 sanctioned posts, 543 are filled while 393 remain vacant.
The shortage is also significant among Medical Officers. Of the 2,859 sanctioned posts, 840 are vacant.
The department, however, said appointment orders for 335 Medical Officers have recently been issued. These doctors, according to the reply, will “shortly” be posted to “peripheral, far-flung and underserved areas having an acute shortage of doctors.”
The staffing gap is not confined to doctors. Of 18,745 sanctioned paramedical posts, 6,248 are vacant, leaving nearly one-third of the sanctioned positions unfilled.
Dental Surgeons are an exception, with all 486 sanctioned posts reported to be filled.
The government said steps were being taken to address the vacancies through recruitment. It said 466 non-gazetted posts in Kashmir division had been referred to the J&K Services Selection Board (JKSSB).
The department also said 292 vacant posts under Family Welfare, Maternity and Child Health and Immunisation, besides 290 non-gazetted and paramedical vacancies in Jammu division, had been referred to the JKSSB.
At the same time, 839 non-gazetted posts and 261 Class-IV (MTS) posts in Jammu division are “under examination” and pending with the Finance Department.
The government reply also points to fiscal constraints affecting the creation of new posts. It said the Finance Department had imposed austerity and expenditure-rationalisation measures for 2026-27 under Government Order No. 198-F, issued in May this year, which placed restrictions on the creation of new posts.
Instead of relying primarily on expansion of health infrastructure, the government said its approach was focused on better utilisation of existing specialist capacity through technology and rotational postings.
Under the existing arrangement, postgraduate residents are mandated to undergo three-month postings at District Hospitals, Sub-District Hospitals and Community Health Centres.
The government has also maintained that J&K already has roughly one health facility for every 3,500 people and that the focus going forward would be on “consolidation, strengthening and optimal utilisation of existing facilities” rather than construction of new institutions.
The vacancy figures, however, indicate that the challenge is not merely the availability of health facilities but also the availability of specialist and supporting staff to provide services at those institutions.
