SRINAGAR: There are only 84 operational ventilators in the Jammu region as the hospitals lack the skilled staff to operate the infrastructure they possess, Satish Mahaldar, who runs Reconciliation Return and Rehabilitation of Migrants has revealed.
In September 2020, Mahaldar said in a statement, the Jammu and Kashmir government demanded 908 ventilators and 600 ventilators were actually delivered.
Hospitals have machines but not operational. The statement said Kishtwar has 16 and Udhampur has 35 but these ventilators are not operational. “There are only 84 ventilators operational in the entire Jammu region,” the statement claimed.
The statement said the hospitals are understaffed. GMC Jammu is working with 60 per cent staff strength. In 2020, 500 adhoc paramedics were terminated but the positions remained vacant. “By June 2021, DRDO will hand over the 500-bedded Bhagwati Nagar hospital with 135 ventilator beds,” the statement said, asking, “who will manage this hospital.” The statement revealed that “acute shortage of BPAP/ventilator supported beds is one of the major reasons for more deaths in Jammu than in Kashmir.”
