Although several committees have been formed over the years to address these issues, the Department of Health and Medical Education (H&ME) has had difficulty finalizing recruitment guidelines and addressing wage disparities since the establishment of GMCs in Kathua, Doda, Rajouri, Anantnag, and Baramulla in 2018, followed by additions in Udhampur and Handwara.
Orders 831-HME and 16-HME were among the first government orders issued in 2019 to address these pay disparities and establish committees to look into the issue. Employees are still waiting for the adoption of uniform hiring practices, though, as subsequent committees established in 2020, 2023, and 2024 have not produced noticeable results. With no defined career paths and unclear job structures, this delay has left non-gazetted employees in a state of limbo, which has increased employee annoyance and lowered morale.
A major source of dissatisfaction is the ongoing pay gap between employees who are gazetted and those who are not. These colleges offer a structured advancement path to their gazetted employees, who are eligible for promotions after three years of service.
Non-gazetted workers, who often have five or more years of devoted service under their belts, are left at the same salary level with no equal advancement opportunities. Despite the H&ME Department’s recognition of these pay disparities in 2019, no significant action has been taken to address them, making non-gazetted employees feel undervalued and ignored.
In addition to pay discrepancies, J&K’s non-gazetted nursing staff is not eligible for nursing allowances or dress allowances, which are provided to nursing staff throughout India, including the Ladakh Union Territory. Because of this omission, J&K’s nursing staff do not receive the allowances that the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) recommended in 2017 to support frontline workers, resulting in a monthly income disparity of about Rs 12,000. The disparity in pay and benefits is exacerbated by the fact that nursing staff in Ladakh enjoy these benefits while their counterparts in J&K are still denied comparable assistance.
Older job titles and pay scales are another source of contention. The MoHFW reclassified entry-level nursing staff positions nationwide in 2016 as “Nursing Officers,” with a Level-7 pay matrix that ranges from Rs 44,990 to Rs 1,42,400. J&K, on the other hand, has not adopted this title and is still hiring nurses under the title of “Junior Staff Nurse,” which carries a lower Level-4 pay scale of Rs 25,500 to Rs 81,100. The nursing staff in J&K does not have the same professional status or compensation as their counterparts in other States and UTs due to this practice, which is in contrast to national norms.
Unresolved pay disparities, unclear hiring guidelines, and out-of-date job titles have sparked debate about how the J&K administration prioritizes non-gazetted staff concerns. Many contend that resolving these issues would boost morale while also guaranteeing that J&K’s healthcare industry conforms to more general national standards, offering fair and uniform working conditions to the non-gazetted workforce.
When contacted, Chand Kishore Sharma, Additional Secretary of the Health and Medical Education Department, stated that they had developed N-G staff recruitment guidelines for GMC Srinagar and were almost finished with GMC Jammu.
