Five KAS officers deployed in different J&K hospitals to tackle COVID-19 pandemic

JAMMU: Five Kashmir Administrative Service (KAS) officers have been deployed on special duty in different hospitals in Jammu and Srinagar for assisting in coronavirus mitigation efforts, an official order said on Wednesday.

The order, issued by the General Administration Department (GAD), said the deployment has been made in the interest of the administration.

The five KAS officers have been deployed on special duty for assisting the administrations of Government Medical Colleges (GMCs), Chest Disease hospitals and SKIMS in coronavirus mitigation efforts, Commissioner Secretary Manoj Kumar Dwivedi said in the official order.

According to the order, Prem Singh has been posted at GMC, Jammu; Mushtaq Ahmad Simnani at SKIMS, Soura; Shabir-ul-Hassan at GMC, Srinagar; Hamida Akhter at Chest Disease Hospital, Kashmir; and Rakesh Kumar Gupta at Chest Disease Hospital, Jammu.

The order stated that these officers will be responsible for coordinating the work in triage centres and ensure that appropriate medical guidance is provided by doctors in sending patients to the correct facility for treatment. They will also assist the hospital managements (director/principal) in monitoring and managing the oxygen supply and utilisation.

The officers would also ensure compliance of decisions taken by the recently formed COVID Apex Management Group headed by the chief secretary and those of respective divisional commissioners, it said.

“Further, Director SKIMS/Principal, Government Medical College (Jammu/Srinagar) shall delegate certain powers/authority to the officers as may be required for managing COVID pandemic,” the order said.

Earlier, on May 2, the Jammu and Kashmir administration had deployed 41 junior scale officers at various places, including airports and railway stations, across the union territory for assisting in coronavirus mitigation efforts.

Jammu and Kashmir reported a record single-day rise of 4,716 COVID-19 cases on Wednesday that pushed the infection tally to 1,96,585 while 52 more fatalities took the death toll to 2,510, according to officials. (Agency)