Srinagar: At the prestigious Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) Soura, a staggering 40 percent of faculty positions remain unfilled, raising concerns about compromised patient care and the potential impact on postgraduate programs. With more faculty members approaching retirement, the situation is expected to worsen in the coming year.
According to information obtained through a Right to Information (RTI) request, SKIMS has confirmed that of the 290 sanctioned posts, 113, including Assistant Professors, Associate Professors, Additional Professors, and Professors, remain vacant.
This significant shortage has a direct impact on the intake capacity of postgraduate programs and further exacerbates the challenges faced in providing quality patient services.
Notably, the number of postgraduate students admitted depends on the availability of faculty, with a professor being capable of guiding three students and an assistant professor limited to one.
The shortage is more pronounced in some departments: In the Biochemistry Department, six out of the seven sanctioned posts are vacant; in Hematology Department, both of the two sanctioned posts are vacant; in the department of Cardiovascular Thoracic Surgery, four of the seven sanctioned posts are vacant; in the department of Nuclear Medicine, six of the seven sanctioned posts are vacant; similarly in the department of physical medicine and rehabilitation, six of the seven posts are vacant; in the Emergency Medicine Department, five of the six sanctioned posts are vacant.
Compounding the issue, more faculty members are approaching retirement, and some are considering moving to the private sector. The loss of faculty, especially in departments dealing with life-threatening diseases such as cancer, poses a severe challenge for the Institute.
The faculty member said that one of the main reasons for the faculty members to prefer the private sector was that there were no incentives of working at SKIMS. “Earlier, when SKIMS was established as a non-practicing institute, the age of retirement was kept higher than the other institutes. This was a great motivation for working at SKIMS, without private practice,” he said.
However, he said, when the retirement age was enhanced at other institutes, it was enhanced at SKIMS by the same degree, and kept at 62. “In GMCs, a faculty member retires at 62, and they can do private practice. At SKIMS, one cannot do private practice, and they will also retire at 62,” he said. The ‘sluggish recruitment’ for SKIMS has made news more than once.
Director SKIMS Soura and ex-officio secretary to Government, Prof Parvaiz A Koul said that Government was aware of the issue the Institute was facing with the depleting faculty. “We are confident that a solution would be devised and implemented soon,” he said.