SRINAGAR: A total of 2,241 health institutions in Jammu and Kashmir, including in Srinagar and Jammu, are currently housed in private or rented buildings involving a monthly recurring rental bill of Rs 52.75 lakh and annual expenditure of over Rs 6 crore, Health Minister Sakina Itoo informed the Assembly on Thursday.
Of these, Health Services Kashmir operates 819 institutions and Health Services Jammu 829 in rented buildings. The J&K Directorate of Ayush runs 322 institutions from private or rented premises while another 271 are under the Directorate of Family Welfare, Maternal and Child Health (MCH) and Immunisation, the minister said in response to a question by National Conference MLA Mushtaq Guroo.
“The government incurs a monthly recurring expenditure of `52,75,309 on these rented premises and an annual expenditure of about `6,33,03,540,” she said. Asked whether the government assesses the suitability of rented buildings before using them for healthcare services, the minister said the field officers—including chief medical officers, block medical officers and medical officers—assess the premises.
“The assessments take into account available space, accessibility, infrastructure, patient privacy and other prescribed standards. The suitability of buildings is also assessed based on local requirements to ensure that services are delivered from safe and accessible premises,” Itoo said.
The minister said the government is working towards developing permanent infrastructure for health institutions currently operating from rented buildings. “It aims to strengthen and modernise infrastructure and reduce recurring rental expenditure,” she said. She added replacing the rented premises with permanent infrastructure would require thousands of crores of rupees. Such expenditure, she added, cannot be accommodated within the government’s available financial resources at this juncture and provided in a short span of time.