Accessible, affordable healthcare turns reality under PM Modi’s leadership: Sinha

Srinagar, Dec 13: Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Saturday appreciated the unwavering dedication, compassion, and personal sacrifice of the medical community to care for others and contributing to the nation’s growth.
The Lieutenant Governor was speaking at the Valedictory Ceremony of SKIMS Annual Festival Week in Srinagar. The event also marked the commencement of 29th Post-Graduate Research Presentation Programme (PGRP-2025) and felicitation of PGRP Awardees, Doctors, Nursing Staffs and Employees of SKIMS by the Lieutenant Governor.
In his address, the Lieutenant Governor highlighted that J&K has witnessed a massive infrastructure expansion and innovative solutions in healthcare post 2019.
“Accessible and affordable quality healthcare has turned into a reality under the leadership of Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi Ji.
We have brought transformative change to J&K’s medical education and public health landscape in the last 5 years. It took almost seven decades to create 500 MBBS seats. We have created 800 additional MBBS seats within 4 years,” the Lieutenant Governor said.
The Lieutenant Governor stated that major issues like lack of government medical colleges, unaffordable private institutions are a thing of the past.
“With bold and systemic reforms between 2020 to 2024, we have made quality healthcare education more accessible,” he said.
The Lieutenant Governor reiterated his commitment to ensure quality healthcare is accessible and affordable to all the citizens especially the underprivileged and those living in far-flung areas.
Guided by the vision of ‘Health for All’, the Lieutenant Governor called upon the healthcare fraternity to ensure inclusive, resilient, and people-centric healthcare.
“We must enrich the healthcare sector through knowledge, innovation, and research. A multidisciplinary approach that goes beyond treating illness should be adopted to address the physical, mental, and social well-being of individuals,” the Lieutenant Governor said.
The Lieutenant Governor also lauded the transformation of SKIMS in the last 4-5 years and its significant contribution to public health and medical education. He observed that over 1,100 long-pending promotions were executed and around 1,300 paramedical and ministerial posts were revived and referred, including 120 faculty positions. Clearance given to over 1,800 DPC promotions and additional 367 Non-Gazetted and 159 Gazetted posts were referred to recruiting agencies. SKIMS is also planning to set up Future-Centres of Excellence in transplant services, emergency & trauma care, neurosciences, cardiac sciences, renal medicine, and pulmonary diseases, endocrine and metabolic disorders.
The Lieutenant Governor inaugurated various projects for SKIMS including commissioning of Emergency S.M.A.R.T Lab; ICU-VII, Heavy Duty Lift and a new Firefighting System.
Foundation stones were laid by the Lieutenant Governor for several projects for SKIMS. These projects include Centre for One Health, 3 MLD sewage treatment plant, Multi-level Car Parking, Attendant Inn- Phase II and Shopping Complex for Hostels. New digital initiatives at SKIMS were also launched on the occasion.
The Lieutenant Governor called for adopting a multifaceted approach leveraging cutting-edge technology to develop new healthcare models and enhance accessibility.
He also sets Five Goals for Healthcare Transformation.
“Data-driven care should be our first goal for personalized treatment and precision medicine.
The second goal is to implement a robust system for auditing patient treatment and outcomes.
Third, to ensure 100% digital records for better treatment and foster a sense of empowerment for patients.
The fourth goal is to develop a decentralized healthcare system that enables doctors in remote villages to provide timely treatment, specifically tailored to patient needs.
Fifth, the medical community must collaborate to promote preventive health and wellness in society”, the Lieutenant Governor said.
Prof. Mohd Ashraf Ganie, Director SKIMS; Prof. Vivek Lal, Director, PGIMER Chandigarh; Prof. A. Ravinder Nath, Vice Chancellor Central University of Kashmir; Anshul Garg, Divisional Commissioner Kashmir; VK Birdi, IGP Kashmir; Akshay Labroo, Deputy Commissioner Srinagar, senior officials, medical professionals, Heads of Departments, faculty, students and staff of SKIMS attended the valedictory ceremony.