Srinagar, Aug. 6 -- I know the corridors of the State Cancer Institute (SCI) at SKIMS, Soura better than I ever wanted to.

Over the past three years, I've watched my father fight a slow, punishing war with Multiple Myeloma. And while he's held on with courage, I've come to understand that the struggle isn't only with cancer. It's with the system meant to treat it.

At first glance, SCI appears to be doing everything right. The consultants, senior oncologists with staggering patient loads, handle case after case with focus and precision. You'll see them hunched over files late into the evening, decoding lab reports, tracking the smallest clinical changes, adjusting chemo doses with the care of someone handling live wires.

The junior doct...