SKIMS Soura’s Engineering Wing Subsumed Under PWD After 2019 Reorganisation | Kashmir Life

SRINAGAR: The engineering wing of Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, Soura, was wound up after the 2019 reorganisation and its maintenance and developmental works have since been placed under the Public Works R and B Division, Soura, the government told the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly on Tuesday.

In a written reply to a starred question, the Health and Medical Education Department said SKIMS, established in 1976, continues to award degrees under the SKIMS Grant of Degrees Act, 1983 and that its funding structure remains the same, with budgetary allocations provided under the health budget. However, the reply acknowledged that, following administrative restructuring, engineering functions formerly handled within SKIMS were reorganised and are now executed through the Public Works Division located on the SKIMS campus.

The question had alleged that the autonomous institute previously maintained its own engineering division until 2019 and that the winding up of that division left a few projects unattended, causing the lapse of significant funds. The government response said the ongoing and pending works were “duly taken over by the executing agency” and “have been carried forward in a time-bound manner”, without furnishing a list of projects or a timetable for completion.

Before the reorganisation, SKIMS operated an independent engineering wing responsible for in-house development and maintenance. The Assembly reply states that those responsibilities have been transferred to the Public Works R and B Division, Soura, which now executes all developmental and maintenance works for the institute.

The government also stressed that administrative changes affected the composition of the institute’s governing body but did not alter SKIMS’s statutory powers under existing legislation. “As per the applicable Transaction of Business Rules, the subject of SKIMS continues to be assigned to the Health and Medical Education Department,” the reply said.

The exchange in the Assembly does not specify which projects reportedly lapsed, the quantum of funds alleged to have been lost, or whether any inquiries were opened into the alleged lapses. Nor does the reply supply dates for completion of works that the Public Works Division has assumed. The Health Department limited its response to confirming that the executing agency has taken over pending works and that budgeting for SKIMS continues under the health allocation.