Jammu, Mar 18 (PTI) The Jammu and Kashmir government on Tuesday told the assembly that around 550 posts of medical officers were vacant in the Union Territory, and the process of recruiting 181 such officers was in progress.

The information was shared by Minister of Agriculture Production Javed Ahmed Dar while responding on behalf of the health minister to questions raised by National Conference MLAs Dr Sajad Shafi and Javed Hassan Beig.

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"The department is actively addressing the ongoing issue of medical officer vacancies, which currently is approximately 550," he said.

Dar informed the House that the Jammu and Kashmir Public Service Commission was carrying out the process of recruiting 181 medical officers. Once selected, these officers will be posted in health institutions facing severe staff shortages, he said.

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"The department is also making a waitlist for 91 selected medical officers who will be deployed to underserved areas in Jammu and Kashmir to bolster healthcare services," Dar added.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)