Jammu, March 24: Minister for Education, Sakeena Itoo, today informed the House that the government is actively working on meeting the infrastructural needs of newly established Degree Colleges in Jammu and Kashmir.
The Minister was replying to a question raised by Abdul Majeed Bhat. She said that the government is pursuing infrastructural needs vis; land, buildings and related things of the 50 new Colleges established vide Government Order No: 48-HE of 2019 Dated: 05.02.2019 and Government Order No: 106-HE of 2019 Dated: 01.03.2019.
The Minister said that establishment of new Degree Colleges involves huge capital by way of creation of staff including both the Teaching and Non-Teaching, besides infrastructural requirements and a good chunk of land. Regarding establishment of a Degree College in Achabal, she said that the Department is receiving demands for establishment of new Degree Colleges in Jammu and Kashmir which includes a request with regard to Achabal for which feasibility is being sought as per the norms in vogue on the subject.
Meanwhile, Itoo said that out of 252 sanctioned posts of Doctors, Paramedics, Non-Gazetted, 142 have been filled up and an additional staff of 101 Doctors and Paramedics have been deployed under the National Health Mission to improve healthcare in remote areas of Ramnagar Constituency. The Minister was replying to a question raised by Dr. Sunil Bhardwaj in the Legislative Assembly. The Minister informed the House that, out of 365 newly appointed Medical Officers, 17 have been posted in Udhampur while selection process for 181 Medical Officer posts is still underway with the Jammu and Kashmir Public Service Commission (JKPSC). “Once the selections are received, the appointed doctors will be assigned to health institutions experiencing severe staff shortages” she added.
The Minister informed that in addition to this, the department is also in the process of operating the waitlist for 91 selected Medical Officers. She said that, additionally, 292 vacancies in non-gazetted, paramedical categories from the Directorate of Family Welfare and 290 from the Directorate of Health Services have been referred for recruitment to the Jammu and Kashmir Services Selection Board to strengthen the healthcare in the region. Regarding Ramnagar Constituency, the Minister informed that 51 health institutions have been sanctioned with 19 in government buildings, 29 in rented buildings and 3 in other departmental buildings.