Srinagar June 26: Jammu and Kashmir government has granted an extension to Dr. A G Ahangar as Director SKIMS Soura, whose five-year term ended on June 25.
Dr. Ahangar was appointed as Director SKIMS in June 2016 but was placed under suspension in January 2018 after three doctors were found practicing at the clinics. Months later he was reinstated as Director SKIMS.
A senior official told The Kashmir Monitor that Dr Ahangar has been given the extension till a selection process is completed for appointment of new Director SKIMS Soura.
“Appointing a new permanent Director will take a few months as the government has to frame a committee to conduct the selection process. So the government gave him an extension considering the pandemic in the valley. An order in this regard will be made public shortly,” the official said.
The official said Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha is closely monitoring all developments taking place at SKIMS as it is Kashmir’s tertiary health care institute and a lot of health care is dependent on this hospital.
In January 2018 when Dr. Ahangar was removed, the then government headed by Mehbooba Mufti appointed Dr. Omar Javed Shah as interim Director SKIMS.
The SKIMS was in the news recently after a group of senior doctors recently wrote a letter to the Chief Secretary inviting applications for the post of Director SKIMS.
“We were expecting an advertisement notification for the selection of the post since the completion of the tenure of the incumbent is approaching. In case no selection process is held well in time, many of us will get deprived of an opportunity to participate in the process and elevation to the post which will adversely affect smooth functioning of our departments and patient care in particular,” the letter reads.
While as another group of senior doctors had also written a letter to the government asking for a continuation of Dr. Ahangar as Director SKIMS till the pandemic is over.
