Delhi govt shuts down 31 mohalla clinics running from porta cabins and rented space, staffers not informed
Of the 31 mohalla clinics, one clinic located in South Delhi’s Humayunpur will be converted into a Ayushman Arogya Mandir, the order stated
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As per a CAT order, a notice of two weeks has to be given to mohalla clinic employees if their services are terminated before March 31, 2026 (File Photo)The Delhi government on Friday shut down 31 mohalla clinics running from porta cabins and rented accommodation across Delhi, leaving the doctors and staffers attached to these clinics in a lurch, with no information on what now happens to their jobs.
In an order issued with the approval of Health and Family Welfare Minister Pankaj Singh on Friday, the chief district medical officers were requested to take necessary action. The order was issued by Dr Manoj Kumar Gupta, state programme officer, Aam Aadmi Mohalla Clinic (AAMC) Cell.
Of the 31 mohalla clinics, one clinic located in South Delhi’s Humayunpur will be converted into a Ayushman Arogya Mandir, the order stated.
It added that the charge of the clinics would be handed over to the government dispensaries these 31 units were attached to and keys for the same are to be handed over to the landlords after the premises are vacated.
The order, meanwhile, has come as a shock to the doctors and staffers working in these 31 clinics.
A staffer said they do not know where they would be shifted next. “So far, we have been told to stay at home. We have not been told where we would go. We will consult our lawyer if we are not informed about the plan of action by Monday.”
A doctor working at one of the clinics added, “There is a lot of uncertainty among doctors and staffers. We do not know anything apart from what is written in the order.”
The move comes in the backdrop of the Central Administrative Tribunal’s (CAT) August 21 order, which had asked the Delhi government to not dismiss the nearly thousand employees engaged by the previous Arvind Kejriwal government — on a contractual basis — in the AAMC before March 31, 2026.
According to the CAT order, a notice of two weeks has to be given to such employees if their services are terminated before March 31, 2026.
The tribunal had also asked the government to file a detailed affidavit on the issue of regularisation of such staff members.
At least 1,000 staffers, who worked at the Mohalla Clinics, had moved CAT, seeking a direction that they all be absorbed in the Ayushman Arogya Mandirs that the BJP government is setting up in place of the AAMCs.
The employees also sought an order restraining the respondents to not fill any post in Ayushman Arogya Mandirs on a regular or contractual basis until all AAMCs staffers have been absorbed.
The Delhi High Court had also recently asked the government to give a notice of two months to AAMC staffers in case it proposes to terminate their services before next March. This was in response to a plea filed by AAMC staffers seeking directions against replacement and termination of their services.
In May, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta had said that doctors and staffers of mohalla clinics would be absorbed in the upcoming Ayushman Arogya Mandirs across the Capital.
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