Salaries of 1,000 doctors, healthcare workers at Ayushman Arogya Mandirs pending for 3 months
Ayushman Arogya Mandirs, formerly known as Mohalla Clinics under the AAP regime, were launched in Delhi last June after the BJP government came to power in the Capital last year.
Currently, 371 Ayushman Arogya Mandirs are operational in Delhi. The government plans to increase this number to 1,139 centres eventually to scale up its primary healthcare network.
At least 1,000 doctors and healthcare workers deployed at Delhi’s Ayushman Arogya Mandirs have not received salaries for the last three months, with the staff attributing the delay to non-sanction of funds under the Pradhan Mantri-Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PM-ABHIM), under which they were hired.
Ayushman Arogya Mandirs consist of medical officers, pharmacists and support staff appointed under National Health Mission (NHM) and PM-ABHIM. Sources said the delay has impacted employees hired under both NHM and PM-ABHIM.
“While salaries of around 275 doctors hired under NHM and pending for three months were recently disbursed, staff recruited under PM-ABHIM are yet to receive payments due to non-sanction of funds under the scheme,” a Health department official said.