His words greatly reduced the nervousness and speculation between doctors, pharmacists, multi-task workers, nurses and attendants working at around 553 Mohalla clinics in Delhi.
Jitendra Kumar, President of Aam Aadmi Mohalla Clinic Union (AAMCU), who were part of the delegation met by the minister Lion On June 2, OSD Vaibhav Rikhari told Thrint, “There was no clear answer. We asked whether the employees of the existing Mohalla Clinic would be retained in the new Arogya temples, only unclear assurances were given.”
“On the delay in salary, we were told that new officers have been appointed and the disbursement will be soon,” read The minutes of the meeting were maintained by Aamcu.
In the leading days to protest on Monday, ThePrint visited the Mohalla clinic in East, South, West, North and Central Delhi, where several employees said they were submitted a ‘unilateral’ compromise memorandum with an additional clause common in all specialties. Their jobs or positions, it has been said, will be valid from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026, or until they are replaced by new employees for Urban/Ayushman Aogya temples (UAAMS/AAMS), whichever is earlier.
“That job safety or countdown for my termination,” a pharmacist commented at a Mohalla Clinic in the southwest district of Delhi, who did not want to be nominated for fears of vengeance.
Launched in 2015 during Arvind Kejriwal’s second term, Mohalla Clinic Emerged ‘Gatherings‘(Neberhood Meeting) organized by AAM Aadmi Party (AAP), as a way to decentralize primary healthcare. The previous AAP was postponed by the government as a “healthcare revolution”, these neighborhood clinics were established to meet a population of 10,000 to 15,000 residents, offering accessible and cheap care close to the house.
On average, each clinic sees between 70 to 100 patients daily, providing several free services, including the approved list of the government from the approved list of 212 clinical trials through Emphenald laboratories and 109 essential medicines. This initiative was also praised by former United Nations General Secretary Kofi Annan, who said in a letter to Kejriwal in 2017 that it could prove to be a good model to scale “UHC [universal health coverage] In India ”.
This idea was caught. A prominent example was Karnataka Namma clinicOut of which more than a hundred was inaugurated by the previous BJP administration in December 2022 under the leadership of Basavaraj Bomai. The number of Namma clinics has increased since the Congress government led by Siddaramaiah came to power in May 2023.
Back to Delhi, soon after, the newly elected BJP government announced that Mohalla clinics would be ‘replaced’ by the Aruogya temples – a model that is to integrate existing primary health facilities under the Center’s head Ayushman Bharat Scheme.
In an interview with Theprint in March, Health Minister Pankaj Kumar Singh Mohalla clinic is called “fundamentally flawed”It is not feasible for the government to continue running some 240 Mohalla clinics that are on “rental properties” or have faced “significant financial loss”.
The minister, however, did not clarify whether the Mohalla clinic would be fully phased out, or if only the units placed on government land would be considered for transition to the Aogya temples – a step that can affect almost one -third operating centers.
Coupled with the absence of a solid timeline for infection, this is the same that motivates employees of the Mohalla Clinic to staging a SIT-in protest at the Delhi Secretariat on 2 June.
The government said, promised to change the primary healthcare in the capital in its first hundred days in March. But after a hundred days, confusion overtakes with clarity. With obscure mousse, interrupted routines, and unanswered questions about job protection, both patients and employees find themselves navigating a system in infection, saying very little in results.
Aamcu’s Kumar told Theprint on Wednesday, “We were admitted to the Mohalla clinic through an examination. Now, the new government wants to present new criteria to hiring. Does this mean that the exam we have given is not just the price because the government has changed?”
“I can’t understand this. Why we will not take the new Arogya temples? CM said that we will be given priority. But the new inauguration AAMS is being hired by new employees, while the employees of the old Mohalla Clinic were not even considered. What are we doing to make it?”
Also read: Diagnosis of CAG of Delhi Mohalla Clinic: ’30 -Second Consultation ‘, Drugs out of stock for months
‘On the frontline during Kovid, we are now disposable?’
Kumpur Pahari Mohalla Clinic is located near the Upskale neighborhood of Vasant Vihar, set between socio-economic inequality. This is the facility where Aamcu President Jitendra Kumar, who is also a pharmacist, is working.
He said, “Some of us signed the MoU, but only after attaching a letter of disagreement” to express our dissatisfaction with the first clause, who stakes our livelihood, said. “Others were hesitant because the language was unclear-anything would call it unilateral. It does not make it clear that our job security will be protected.”
Another employee said, “In the name of politics, we can sit at home for months. There is no proper communication on our future, there is no clarity. We have dedicated years for public healthcare, and Was on the frontline during covid,
Jitendra clarified that the union rely on Rekha Gupta, but “bureaucrats, junior officers are doing ‘Lal Tapism’; they should convert that line into an MoU.”
At another Mohalla Clinic in North Delhi, a doctor who did not wish not to be nominated, “the new MoU gives one hand and takes it with the other. It says that we can live, but only until someone is hired. Then what?”
At a Mohalla Clinic in West Delhi, a pregnant pharmacist said on the condition of anonymity that his request for maternity leave was ignored and instead he was transferred to another Mohalla Clinic last week. “My colleagues and I have been transferred to another AAMC and are replaced by the government’s dispensary by employees. When that mohalla clinic is converted to UAAM, where will we go? Where will the employees already work go?”
“neither [health] The department told us that we are being transferred. One day, I was asked to report a separate clinic, without clarification, why were we designed to sign a no-duty form? “A multi-work worker was asked.
He approved the examination at Indraprastha University, like all Mohalla Clinic employees. He was connected to a Mohalla Clinic in West Delhi in the third week of May when Thrint was visited.
There were three options in the ‘No-Dues’ form: D-Empenelement, resignation and transfer. Employees were asked to sign the form on 31 May during the inauguration of 33 Aogya temples. The MoU had also submitted him earlier, the transfer option was also mentioned.
Print also visited a Mohalla Clinic at Multani Dhanda, Paharganj, which was converted. Outside board read: Urban Ayushman Arogya Temple. Inside, a little changed. “This is just the board,” a staff member said, pointing to the new signage. “Everything else is the same – for now. We are still waiting to see what happens next.”
While the Delhi government has launched its ambitious mission to strengthen the primary healthcare setup with a plan to set up at least 33 Aogya Temple in the national capital in the first phase, Doctors, nurses, pharmacists and other employees associated with Mohalla clinic said they felt blind. Some had highlighted their concerns in the protests before they on Monday, some said ThePrint was not paid in two months.
“We were the face of public health during Kovid. Now, are we disposables?” A pharmacist at a Mohalla Clinic in South Delhi said, which was in the system since 2019.
At a Mohalla Clinic in the southwest district of Delhi, a doctor did not express much concern about his possibilities, and looked more upset about the future of his medical staff-nurses, pharmacists and multi-task workers. If nothing works, doctors can establish their own practices, but this is not the case with the medical staff, they explained.
Mohalla Clinic: Routine, Referral and Trust
Jagveer, a 70 -year -old Sangam Vihar resident, said that he visited the Mohalla Clinic in his neighborhood once every 10 days to achieve his blood pressure, and restored his insulin.
The way Mohalla clinics are structured, Emined doctors are paid Rs 40 per patient and pharmacist Rs 12, while multi-task workers are paid Rs 8 per patient.
Now the mixture can be emphasized on referrals for hospitals operated by the state, as well as private hospitals under the Center’s Ayushman Bharat Scheme to ensure integration.
Doctors at the Mohalla clinic stated that the referral system said that especially with a role for the center-run hospitals, it could help to streamlin the care of the -ogy and reduce the burden on overwork clinics. The Aogya temples are also informed to offer vaccination and prenatal services that were only planned for mohalla clinics, but were never fully implemented.
At a Mohalla Clinic in Central Delhi, a doctor said, “In theory, this expansion can help. Depending on where the UAAMs are located, they can attract high footfalls and reduce the doctor-patient ratio.” “But in practice, there are many complications.”
For patients, there is a bond designed with mohalla clinic staff over time for many real damage. “We know our people – they come to us not only for medicine, but also for faith. We become part of their family care,” a doctor said that a doctor who was up to six years with a Mohalla Clinic in Southwest Delhi.
On the other hand, many regular patients said that they were ready for the Arogya temples. Mohan, a resident of Lajpat Nagar, said, “As long as I get good health care and free medicine, no matter whose face or name is on the clinic.”
Usha Rani, a resident of Paharganj, who lives in front of the newly established Arogya temple, said that she hoped from the BJP government in Delhi to “some additional, apart from the change of the board, like the gym”.
Kartike Chaturvedi and Aliza Ahmed are intern who graduated from Diprin School in Journalism; Suryansh Tripathi is a trainee with an intern
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)