SRINAGAR: The Jammu and Kashmir Government has said there is currently no proposal to upgrade the Bone and Joint Hospital, Jammu, into an independent super-speciality orthopaedic and trauma care institute, even as it has proposed 299 additional posts to strengthen services at the 182-bed facility.
The Health and Medical Education Department disclosed this in a written reply to a question raised by BJP MLA Arvind Gupta in the Legislative Assembly.
The hospital, which became operational in 2023, was established to provide tertiary-level orthopaedic care. The Government said additional manpower was required to further strengthen its services but ruled out any proposal to establish or upgrade it as a separate super-speciality orthopaedic and trauma care institute.
It also clarified that there is no Phase-II expansion project currently under way at the hospital.
Trauma and accident cases are being managed by Government Medical College (GMC) Hospital, Bakshi Nagar, and its associated hospitals, including the Bone and Joint Hospital, depending on the nature of the cases, the Government said.
To augment manpower, 299 new posts have been proposed in two phases. Of these, 154 posts are proposed under the first phase and 145 under the second.
The proposal for 154 posts under Phase I carries an annual financial implication of Rs 11.71 crore and has been submitted to the Finance Department after its observations were addressed.
The posts will be sanctioned following financial concurrence and approval by the competent authority. The Government said the additional manpower would strengthen service delivery within the hospital’s existing infrastructure.
On the demand for a separate budget and independent administrative control, the department said the matter had been taken up with the Finance Department, which advised creation of a separate budget head for the hospital.
The proposal remains under process. Until a separate budget head is created and Drawing and Disbursing Officer (DDO) powers are granted, the Principal of GMC Jammu has been directed to meet the hospital’s financial requirements through the existing budget mechanism.
