GMC Rajouri withholds salaries of staff absent during Indo-Pak conflict
Rajouri: The Government Medical College (GMC) and Hospital in Rajouri has announced that it will withhold the salaries of several staff members who were found absent from duty during the recent armed conflict between India and Pakistan, an official said on Tuesday. The period of absence shall be treated as unauthorized absence for these employees.
The punished workers include faculty, consultants, senior residents, junior residents, staff nurses, paramedical staff, technical staff, ministerial staff, multi-tasking staff, interns, and many others who fled the town on May 7, the order read.
“Furthermore, the said period shall be treated as unauthorized absence, and appropriate entries shall be made in their service records/service books in accordance with the applicable rules and regulations,” Principal, GMC Rajouri Prof (Dr) A S Bhatia said in the order, news agency PTI reported.
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The facility serves as a key medical institution for the entire Pir Panjal region spread across border districts of Rajouri and Poonch – both worst-hit in the artillery and mortar shelling by Pakistan.
At least 20 of the total 28 deaths in the conflict in Jammu and Kashmir were reported from the two districts, with over 50 others injured.
The dead included Rajouri Additional District Development Commissioner Raj Kumar Thappa, who lost his life when a shell hit his residential compound in Rajouri town on May 10.
Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that the Government Medical College Hospital (GMCH) Jammu has officially withdrawn a circular it issued on April 25, 2025, which had instructed hospital staff to remain on high alert due to reported cross-border tensions in the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir.
The earlier circular, issued by the Medical Superintendent of GMCH Jammu, had directed all staff to remain on high alert and ensure complete preparedness to meet any exigencies that may arise at any time. These measures included keeping essential medicines and critical equipment ready, limiting unnecessary leave, and ensuring uninterrupted patient care.