Jammu: The rapid expansion of hospitals under Government Medical College (GMC), Jammu has exposed a widening gap between infrastructure growth and financial support.
Despite the number of affiliated hospitals doubling in the last five years, no corresponding increase in budgetary allocation has been made, leaving the institution facing a fund crunch.
Officials say this gap is affecting infrastructure upkeep, staffing, and smooth functioning of services. The situation is such that there are no funds to pay salaries of private security personnel at the hospitals even as the government has rejected proposals to increase the budget.
The tender for hiring private security services at GMC was issued in 2022. At that time, only GMC, SMGS, Psychiatry, Super Specialty, and Maternity Hospitals in Gandhinagar were part associated hospitals.
And security personnel were also deployed accordingly. However, new hospitals opened in the last few years. The Bone and Joint Hospital opened at the end of 2022. The State Cancer Institute was established a year later. A new de-addiction center opened within the Psychiatry Hospital as part of the Drug-Free India campaign. Colonel Chopra Nursing Home has been open for nearly ten years. A new maternity block with a capacity of 241 beds was dedicated to patients at SMGS Hospital this year.
According to official sources within the GMC, the government has not approved any budget for these new hospitals. Sources say that the GMC administration submitted a revised budget to the government after the new hospitals opened, but the Finance Department did not approve it. The administration has sent multiple reminders to the government, but the matter is yet to see any movement. Consequently, the existing GMC budget continues to pay the salaries of private security personnel in other hospitals from the same kitty. The budget for the State Cancer Institute, Bone and Joint Hospital, and the new block of SMGS Hospital has not yet been received. The management of these hospitals has also stated that they are facing difficulties in running the hospitals without budget.
Currently, 956 private security personnel are deployed at GMC and affiliated hospitals. Of these, 867 are unskilled, 30 are skilled, 57 are security supervisors, and two are security officers. All of them have not received their salaries for three months. A single month’s salary alone amounts to over one crore rupees.
Budgetary arrangements are being made for the salaries of private security personnel. It is expected that their pending three-month salary will be paid within fifteen days, said Dr. Ashutosh Gupta, Principal, GMC Jammu
There are 295 private security personnel deployed in Medical College Jammu, 21 in Sir Colonel Chopra Nursing Home, 32 in Bone and Joint Hospital, 132 at Shri Maharaja Gulab Singh Hospital Shalamar, 55 at SMGS Hospital New Block, 15 at Maternity Hospital in Gandhinagar, 19 at Psychiatric hospitals, 54 at Chest Diseases Hospital, 131 at Super Speciality Hospital Jammu, 82 at GMC Technical , Teaching Block , Lab Services, 14 at quarters, 23 at Girls’ Hostel, 25 at Boys’ Hostel 25, 51 State Cancer Institute and seven at Nursing College in Gangyal.
