Though the hospital is short of basic equipments like syringes, surgical gloves and even the basic emergency drugs and cites shortage of funds as the reason, lakhs of rupees are being spent on the advertisement. "The hospital would have done better by using this money to buy basic medical equipment," says a senior doctor. "What they are spending on advertisements could have been in a more meaningful way used to buy surgical gloves, pain killers and other requirements".

As already reported by The Indian Express, the Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences is short of basic essential medicines like Voveran (pain killer), Buscopan (anti spasmodic), Dexmethasone (steroid), Ciprofloxacin (antibiotic) and Albendazole (de-worm agent). The hospital is also short of blood pressure monitoring machines, rubber gloves, urine bags and weighing machine. The hospital also lacks B-complex tablets, glucometer (for glucose monitoring), disposable gloves, vitamin K injections (for liver support), Catheter – a tube that is inserted into a body cavity to drain off fluids.

The Medical Superintendent of the hospital, Iftikhar Ahmad Bukhari is not ready to talk. "I don't want to talk to you," he says.