Militancy as a shield

Official sources admit that a large number of Public Health Centres (PHCs) and dispensaries in most of the rural areas in Jammu region are virtually defunct due to the non-availability of doctors and para-medical staff. While the doctors and para-medical staff are not prepared to join duty in militancy-infested areas, only skeletal staff are available at other places.

Commissioner-cum-Secretary Health and Medical Education B.R. Kundal had ordered the detachment of all doctors for posting in rural areas two months ago. However, most doctors again got themselves attached to the Directorate of Health and in the Medical College at Jammu.

Sources say the Health Department has been planning to appoint 125 assistant surgeons and 25 dental surgeons on ad hoc basis and post them in remote rural areas. However, a decision is yet to be taken.

Kundal says the main problem is that even the doctors, who had sought admission to the Medical College under the reserved categories of Line of Control and Backward areas, are not prepared to go to these areas. In the areas not affected by militancy, they are hesitant to join duty because of absence of roads, residential accommodation and other infrastructure.

The worst affected areas are Doda, Rajouri, Poonch and Udhampur districts. Sources said of the 27 vacancies of doctors in Budhal block of the border Rajouri district, only three are functioning. Two of them were stationed at Kandi and one at Budhal.

There is no female gynecologist in the entire Rajouri district, which has a population of about 4.20 lakh, officials in the Revenue and Police Department said. As a result, most of the women in the district prefer to travel all the way to the Government Medical College Hospital at Jammu.

Doctors are not prepared to join duty even in peaceful areas. Deputy Commissioner of Udhampur Mehboob Iqbal said there are no doctors available at most of the places in Majalta, Pouni, Reasi, Arnas and Gool blocks of the district though there has been no militancy-related incident in these blocks. Even in Gool, where the Border Security Force (BSF) had set up a base camp, only two doctors are working in the sub-district hospital.

The Deputy Commissioner of Rajouri said 87 posts of government doctors are lying vacant in the district.

“Stretches after stretches in various parts of the region were without doctors,” a senior Health Department official said. The official further added that people have to trek a minimum of ten to 15 kilometres mountainous terrain even for getting first aid in many areas of Jammu.

“Even if we post them (doctors) in far flung areas, they do not go there on the pretext of militancy,” the Health Department officials said. While the influential ones manage to get themselves posted in urban areas, a number of others go on leave. The remaining few, however, join duty and return home the very next day, they added.

Officials say that there has not been even a single instance of militants having attacked any doctor in the region. “The militants, too, require medical treatment many a times and they visit the doctors posted in far flung areas. However, we don’t question any doctor on this count,” a senior police officer said.

At few places, where the doctors are available, there are no medicines for the patients. The Health Department officials said most of the time departmental drivers express hesitation in transporting medicines to militancy-infested areas. However, by the time the health department manages to transport medicines to the remote areas, most of the medicines are taken away either by the security forces or the militants.

“What you can do when an armed militant comes to you for medicines? Either, you will hand over the medicines or lose your life,” a Health Department official said.