LMA President Raises Concerns Over Health Infrastructure and Doctors’ Recruitment in UT Ladakh

long-pending and critical issues of Graduate and Post-Graduate Doctors of UT Ladakh.

1. Delay in Recruitment of Medical Officers and Consultants
Since the formation of UT Ladakh in 2019, there has been no regular recruitment of Medical Officers and Consultants. In the current year, 120 posts of Medical Officers were advertised; however, although the application window has closed, the recruitment process has not yet commenced. We humbly request your kind intervention to expedite the recruitment process at the earliest. Further, recruitment of Consultants under Health and Medical Education should be initiated urgently to strengthen secondary and tertiary care services.

2. Operationalisation of Medical college Ladakh.

We request early completion and operationalisation of Ladakh Medical College, along with timely recruitment of medical, teaching, and technical staff. Given Ladakh’s geographical remoteness and strategic importance, the medical college must include multi-specialty and super-specialty services, which are basic necessities for the region and vital for patient care, training, and retention of doctors.

3. Compulsory Service Bond – Lack of Policy and Disparity.
In 2022, a compulsory service bond was introduced for UG and PG students of UT Ladakh due to shortage of doctors. However, there is no clear recruitment policy for appointing bonded candidates. So far, only one batch has been appointed, while subsequent batches have been left unutilized citing lack of NHM vacancies. With more than 50 MBBS admissions every year, Ladakh is likely to have adequate doctors in the coming 1–2 years.
Moreover, the bond is selectively applied only to students admitted to J&K medical colleges through BOPEE, while those admitted to the same colleges via All India Quota are exempt, creating serious disparity and injustice. Students under bond are unable to pursue Senior Residency or super-specialisation, whereas AIQ candidates can do so freely.
We therefore request that the compulsory service bond be either withdrawn entirely or made uniform for all eligible candidates, with guaranteed employment and clearly defined service rules for the bond period.

4. Ineligibility for Residency in J&K Medical Colleges
Graduates and postgraduates from UT Ladakh are currently not eligible for Junior Residency or Senior Residency in medical colleges across Jammu & Kashmir, forcing them to go outside the region. We request that a mechanism be established to enable UT Ladakh candidates to be eligible for residency positions in Jammu and Kashmir medical colleges.

5. Request to allow Doctors to go for Higher studies/. Residency and Recognition of Bond Service for Doctors Serving Under Compulsory Service Bond in UT Ladakh.
It is also humbly requested that doctors already recruited under the compulsory service bond, who have completed one year of service, may be given due opportunity to pursue Senior Residency, fellowships, or super-specialisation, and that the service rendered under the compulsory bond period be duly counted as valid experience for eligibility and recruitment to permanent consultant posts in UT Ladakh.

6. Recruitment of Dental consultant and dental surgeon in UT Ladakh.
A. Immediate Notification of 26 Dental Surgeon Posts via UPSC.We demand the immediate notification and advertisement of the 26 vacant Dental Surgeon posts through the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).
B. Permanent recruitment of dental consultant at both district as well as Dental Surgeons recruitment must be prioritized under the National Health Mission (NHM) at every Primary Health Centre (PHC) and Community Health Centre (CHC).
C. It is unacceptable that the entire region of Ladakh is currently allocated one MDS seat, there we call for a significant increase in the total NEET MDS seat matrix.