SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir has six government medical colleges offering postgraduate medical courses, with the Union Government stating that fees for such courses are fixed by the respective State or Union Territory administrations and that the Centre does not centrally maintain fee-structure data.
According to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare’s reply in the Lok Sabha on Friday, the six institutions in JK are Government Medical College Anantnag, Government Medical College Baramulla, Government Medical College Kathua, Government Medical College Rajouri, Government Medical College Jammu and Government Medical College Srinagar. The list was furnished on the basis of information provided by the National Medical Commission (NMC).
GMC Anantnag offers six listed PG courses, including MD General Medicine, MD Anaesthesiology, MD Paediatrics, MS General Surgery and MS ENT. GMC Baramulla offers three courses—MS ENT, MS General Surgery and MD Paediatrics—while GMC Rajouri offers MD Paediatrics.
GMC Kathua offers eight listed courses, including MD General Medicine, MD Anaesthesiology, MD Paediatrics, MS General Surgery, MS Obstetrics and Gynaecology, MD Pathology, MD Pharmacology and MD Biochemistry.
GMC Jammu has 24 listed postgraduate and super-speciality courses, including MD General Medicine, MD Paediatrics, MD Anaesthesiology, MS General Surgery, MS Orthopaedics, MS Obstetrics and Gynaecology, MD Radio Diagnosis/Radiology, MD Psychiatry and MCh Urology/Genito-Urinary Surgery.
GMC Srinagar has 23 listed courses, including MD General Medicine, MD Anaesthesiology, MD Paediatrics, MD Radio Diagnosis/Radiology, MD Respiratory Medicine, MS General Surgery, MS Orthopaedics, MS Obstetrics and Gynaecology, MCh Urology, MCh Paediatric Surgery and MCh Neuro Surgery.
Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), Srinagar, has 25 listed PG and super-speciality courses, including MD General Medicine, MD Anaesthesiology, MD Paediatrics, MD Radio Diagnosis/Radiology, MS General Surgery, MS Orthopaedics, MS Obstetrics and Gynaecology, MCh Neuro Surgery, MCh Plastic Surgery, MCh Surgical Gastroenterology, MCh Urology, MCh Paediatric Surgery and MCh Thoracic/Cardiothoracic Surgery.
The Union Health Ministry said the fixation of fees for medical courses, including postgraduate courses, falls within the domain of the respective State and UT governments. It therefore did not provide a State/UT-wise comparison of fees or confirm the extent of disparity between institutions.
The reply also stated that the fee structure of NAMO Medical Education and Research Institute, Silvassa, is under the domain of the administration of the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu and the society registered for the purpose. The Union Government did not announce any central proposal to rationalise its fees.
On vacancies at the Silvassa institute, the administration informed the Centre that 193 medical professionals of all categories were available against a sanctioned strength of 219 posts, leaving 26 posts unfilled. The reply did not provide a category-wise vacancy breakdown or quantify the impact of the vacancies on education, clinical training or medical services.
Across the Union Territories, the NMC data placed before the Lok Sabha listed government medical colleges in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir and Puducherry. Delhi had the largest concentration of government medical institutions and the widest range of postgraduate and super-speciality courses among the UTs listed, while JK had six government institutions with PG courses, besides SKIMS.
The Union Government’s response makes clear that no national average fee or centrally maintained fee database is available, making it impossible from the data placed before Parliament to determine whether JK’s PG medical fees are above or below the national average.
