Give 2 months’ notice before firing Mohalla Clinic staff, HC tells govt.

The Delhi High Court has directed the Delhi government to provide two months’ notice to staff members of Mohalla Clinics in case it proposes to terminate their services before March 31 next year.

The court’s order came while dealing with a petition filed by staff members of Mohalla Clinics hired on a contractual basis by the previous Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government.

The petitioners, employed as pharmacists, assistants, and multitask workers, had sought directions against their termination and replacement with other contractual employees.

The BJP government has decided to roll out a network of Urban Ayushman Arogya Mandirs (U-AAMs) and subsume Mohalla Clinics, a flagship programme of the previous AAP government.

The court’s August 6 order disposed of the petition with the direction that “in the event the respondents [Delhi government] propose to terminate the petitioners’ engagement before March 31, 2026, on the ground that new manpower has been engaged…, they are directed to give two weeks’ notice to the concerned… (staff)”.

The staff members had submitted that some of them have been telephonically instructed not to report for duty.

The counsel for the Delhi government had submitted that no decision has been taken by the authorities to dispense with the services of any employees of Mohalla Clinics.

As of August 2023, 533 Mohalla Clinics were operational in Delhi, providing healthcare services to the city’s residents. However, at least seven Mohalla Clinics have already been converted into U-AAMs under the Centre’s Ayushman Bharat scheme.

Following a protest on May 17 by the staff of Mohalla Clinics, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta had given them an assurance that existing paramedical and support staff would be adjusted within U-AAMs.