Mohalla Clinic staffers protesting outdoors Delhi Secretariat on Monday.
| Photograph Credit score: SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA
Mohalla Clinic staffers on Monday staged a protest outdoors the Delhi Secretariat amid rising considerations over job safety. The protesting docs, nurses, and multi-tasking staff demanded that they be absorbed into the upcoming Ayushman Arogya Mandirs (AAMs).
This determination got here after the Comptroller and Auditor Normal report, tabled within the Meeting by the BJP, revealed shortcomings within the functioning of the clinics. In line with officers, there are 553 Mohalla Clinics within the Capital, of which 70 are proposed to be upgraded into AAMs. The transformation would additionally result in the shutting of over 250 clinics, stated Well being Minister Pankaj Singh.
The protest, which started at 9 a.m. and continued until 12 midday, witnessed the employees searching for readability on their future. 5 docs then entered the Secretariat to fulfill Chief Minister Rekha Gupta and the Well being Minister. Nonetheless, once they weren’t accessible, the docs submitted the memorandum to the well being division officers.
“Our two months’ salaries have been stopped in order that we will be pressured. We’re being made to signal no-dues types,” learn the memorandum roughly translated from Hindi.
The docs, in a memorandum addressed to the Chief Minister, highlighted that they have been recruited by a government-led, intensive choice course of. All of the employees ought to be transferred to AAMs with none “disruption in providers”, the memorandum acknowledged, reiterating the CM’s earlier assurance, made on Might 16, that “nobody will likely be laid off”. Echoing CM’s assertion, Mr. Singh, final week, stated that “those that are eligible and work arduous, won’t be rendered jobless”.
Nonetheless, in a gathering on April 17, the Well being Division introduced that it will rent new employees, sparking considerations about job safety among the many Mohalla Clinic employees. Whereas the division talked about that present docs and paramedics might proceed for as much as a 12 months or till new appointments are made, Monday’s protestors stated, “no assurance was given”.
Taking up the federal government’s new eligibility standards based mostly on age restrict, a 68-year-old practising physician stated, “Underneath the sooner standards, skilled docs got an opportunity to proceed working after retirement. Underneath the brand new standards that the federal government plans, there will likely be an age restrict, rendering many people jobless.”
The physician, who was among the many 5 others who spoke to officers on Monday stated, “Officers acknowledged the memorandum however didn’t give us any assurance. Most clinics have been shut as we speak, and we didn’t wish to deprive sufferers, however we had no possibility.”
A nurse, who has labored in a clinic for six years stated, “Firstly, there usually are not sufficient jobs. If we’ve got been given a contract, based mostly on our {qualifications}, we ought to be retained.”
“Furthermore, the job is essential to me as a result of it’s a day job and I’ve a one-year-old toddler at house. If I’ve to maneuver to a hospital, it will likely be very tough for me to do night time responsibility,” she stated, including that her month-to-month wage is roughly ₹25,000 per 30 days.
Printed – June 03, 2025 01:41 am IST
