The Centre has now allowed recruitment to begin against sanctioned regular posts, relaxing a key condition that had held up the hiring of faculty members and support staff. Approved in 2019, Ladakh’s first government medical college is yet to become operational. The college is expected to start functioning in the 2027-28 academic year, although the opening of its permanent campus in Leh will take longer as construction is still underway.
The Union Health Ministry has allowed the Ladakh administration to fill 103 sanctioned regular posts in phases without waiting for nearly 80 per cent of the college’s infrastructure to be completed.
For now, the college will operate from temporary facilities. The administration has identified two newly constructed buildings to house the academic block and students’ hostel. The detailed project report was also under examination at the time. The delay has left Ladakh without a government medical college of its own, forcing students seeking medical education to look outside the Union Territory. The college will shift to its permanent campus once construction is complete.
In March 2023, a parliamentary standing committee flagged the delay, noting that no substantial progress had been made on the college’s infrastructure. Under the latest arrangement, recruitment for the 103 posts will begin in phases from the 2027-28 academic year, depending on academic requirements.
