Srinagar, August 26,2026-The Lieutenant Governor,Shri Manoj Sinha, addressed the Quaternary Healthcare & Research Summit in Srinagar, calling for advanced medical care to be treated as a right of every citizen rather than a benefit available only to those who can afford it.
Speaking at the summit held at SKICC under the theme “Scaling Tertiary into Quaternary Healthcare: A National Strategy for Advanced Care,” the Lieutenant Governor said quaternary care — the most specialised level of medical treatment involving advanced diagnostics, organ transplants, complex surgeries and cutting-edge therapeutics — must no longer remain the preserve of the economically privileged.
“Quaternary care should not be a privilege reserved for the economically rich section of society. It must become a right of citizenship and a guarantee of the nation,” the Lieutenant Governor said, setting the tone for a summit that has brought together senior officials and heads of premier medical institutions from across the country.
Bridging the Gap Between Cities and Villages
The Lieutenant Governor said the challenge of extending advanced healthcare beyond metropolitan centres and specialised institutions is not unique to Jammu and Kashmir but is a nationwide concern. Recalling a visit to a health centre near Akhnoor during the Back to Village programme at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, he said a conversation with doctors there had left a lasting impression on him about the hardships faced by patients needing diagnosis and treatment for complex diseases in areas far removed from advanced medical facilities.
He pointed to institutions such as AIIMS Delhi, PGIMER Chandigarh and SKIMS Srinagar as symbols of the country’s specialised healthcare capability, while cautioning that a truly comprehensive healthcare ecosystem demands sustained, coordinated effort well beyond these flagship centres. The goal, he said, must be to close the gap between what modern medicine is capable of and what actually reaches patients in smaller districts and remote regions.
Hospitals as Centres of Research, Not Just Treatment
A recurring theme in the Lieutenant Governor’s address was the need to reimagine hospitals as engines of research and innovation, not merely as treatment facilities. He said clinical care and research must advance hand in hand, with every advanced healthcare centre given access to the full range of facilities that modern medical science can offer.
Addressing the researchers, scientists, doctors and administrators gathered for the three-day summit, the Lieutenant Governor acknowledged their deep domain expertise and said their collective knowledge was central to shaping a workable national roadmap for scaling tertiary hospitals into quaternary care institutions.
A National Effort Under NITI Aayog
The summit, being held under the aegis of NITI Aayog, has drawn participation from senior officials including the Directors of AIIMS New Delhi and PGIMER Chandigarh, along with the Executive Directors of AIIMS Awantipora and AIIMS Jammu. Inaugurating the event, Director SKIMS, Prof. M. Ashraf Ganie, had earlier described the summit as a significant initiative to strengthen tertiary healthcare institutions and steer them towards quaternary-level capability, thanking NITI Aayog for backing the effort.
Over its three days, the summit is expected to move from clinical research presentations by doctors from Jammu and Kashmir, to national-level deliberations involving international experts, and finally to discussions among institutional heads and senior faculty on strengthening collaboration in research, training and teaching.
Advanced Care as a National Guarantee
In his address, the Lieutenant Governor framed the push towards quaternary care not simply as a healthcare reform but as a matter of equity and national commitment. His call — that access to the highest standard of medical care must be guaranteed to every citizen regardless of economic status — is expected to serve as a guiding principle as the summit’s deliberations translate into a concrete national strategy for advanced healthcare delivery in the days ahead.