# LG Sinha calls for advanced healthcare in smaller districts 2026-08-26T21:26:16+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Wednesday called for making advanced healthcare accessible beyond major cities, saying a gap persists between modern medicine's capabilities and what is available in smaller districts and remote areas. Speaking at the National Summit on Quaternary Healthcare in Srinagar, Sinha said the challenge is not limited to the Union Territory but is national in scope. He recalled a visit to a health centre near Akhnoor during the 'Back to Village' programme, where doctors described families travelling to Jammu, Chandigarh or Delhi for treatment of complex diseases due to lack of local diagnostic equipment. Sinha said India has expanded health insurance, vaccination, medical education and infrastructure over the past decade, but stressed that hospitals must become research centres and that telemedicine should connect remote facilities. He suggested NITI Aayog could help develop a national strategy for advanced care. ## Indian Opinion Analysis The gap Sinha describes echoes the finding of the 2022 National Health Profile, which showed that over 70% of India's specialists are concentrated in urban areas, leaving district hospitals without oncologists, neurologists or cardiologists. The government's Ayushman Bharat scheme and the new AIIMS network were designed to change this, but patient outflows to metros remain high. The summit itself, focused on quaternary care, signals a shift from primary coverage toward advanced treatment planning. The next indicator to watch is whether the upcoming Union Budget increases capital outlay for district-level critical care units. ## Coverage - greaterkashmir.com The article presents Sinha's speech verbatim without adding framing or editorial comment. This brief was synthesised by AI from the source linked above. Tags: AIIMS, Ayushman Bharat, Jammu and Kashmir, Manoj Sinha, NITI Aayog Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/lg-sinha-calls-for-advanced-healthcare-in-smaller-districts/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/lg-sinha-calls-for-advanced-healthcare-in-smaller-districts/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes. How this brief was made: an AI model read the report linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/