A full-blown manpower crisis has gripped the network of Government Medical Colleges (GMCs) across the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, pushing the healthcare and medical education system to the brink. With nearly 5,000 posts lying vacant out of a sanctioned strength of 10,717, these institutions are struggling to deliver even the most basic patient care and academic services. What makes the situation alarming is not only the scale of the deficit but also the absence of any comprehensive, mission-mode recruitment exercise by the authorities to address it.
Every GMC—from Jammu to Handwara—is functioning with almost half of its required workforce. Faculty, residents, paramedics, technical staff, nurses and support staff are all in short supply. This systemic shortage has created a crushing workload on the existing employees, compromising healthcare delivery, delaying diagnostics, overburdening emergency services, and eroding the academic atmosphere essential for training future doctors.
The most striking example comes from GMC Jammu, the premier medical institution of the region, which is operating with almost 50% vacancies. The paramedical wing alone has 1,426 vacant posts. Similar distressing numbers emerge from GMC Kathua, Doda, Rajouri and especially GMC Udhampur, where the situation has reached a near-collapse. Against 467 sanctioned non-gazetted posts in Udhampur, only 39 are filled; the institution has no MTS staff, and technical posts are virtually unmanned with only 12 employees working against 209 sanctioned posts. Such a fragile manpower base makes regular functioning nearly impossible and forces reliance on ad-hoc and contractual arrangements that are neither sustainable nor academically sound.
The condition in the Valley is equally worrying. GMC Srinagar—one of the oldest and most prestigious institutions—faces persistent shortages in nursing, paramedical and support services. With 957 sanctioned paramedical posts, 209 remain vacant. GMC Anantnag, Baramulla and Handwara are also struggling with significant gaps in faculty, nursing and technical staff, affecting both service delivery and the training of medical students.
These figures reflect not isolated lapses but a structural and administrative failure. The National Medical Commission (NMC) prescribes mandatory staffing norms for every medical college, and such extensive shortages directly violate those standards. More importantly, they put patient safety, academic integrity and clinical training at serious risk. Overburdened doctors and nurses cannot maintain the quality of care expected at tertiary-level institutions, and students cannot be expected to acquire high-level clinical skills in an environment running on skeletal staff.
What is most troubling is that despite knowing the gravity of the situation, the Health & Medical Education Department has not initiated a transparent, fast-track recruitment drive. No manpower audit, no strategic staffing plan, and no long-term corrective framework have been put in place. The over-reliance on contractual staff has become a stopgap that erodes accountability and continuity.
If immediate action is not taken, this crisis threatens to deepen into irreversible institutional decay. The Government must launch a mission-mode hiring process, fill all vacant posts in a time-bound manner, and strengthen workforce planning in accordance with NMC norms. Medical colleges form the backbone of tertiary healthcare and produce the doctors of tomorrow; neglecting them is equivalent to compromising the health of an entire generation.
This is not merely an administrative shortfall—it is a humanitarian concern and a public health emergency. The situation demands urgency, accountability and decisive intervention before the system collapses further.DD
