RANCHI: Atal Mohalla Clinics in Jharkhand will now be known as Mother Teresa Advanced Health Clinics. The decision was taken during a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Thursday.
A total of 21 proposals were approved in the meeting, including the introduction of a uniform framework for state universities through new legislation.
Notably, Atal Mohalla Clinics in Jharkhand are a network of primary healthcare facilities established to provide free and comprehensive healthcare services to urban slum areas.
These clinics aim to bridge the gap in healthcare access and reduce the burden on larger hospitals by offering basic medical services, including treatment for common ailments, free medicines, and basic lab tests.
According to Cabinet Secretary Vandana Dadel, these Atal Mohalla Clinics have now been renamed as Mother Teresa Advanced Health Clinics in Jharkhand.
“The Jharkhand Cabinet gave its approval to change the name of Atal Mohalla Clinic, being operated under the ongoing scheme under the State Plan, to Mother Teresa Advanced Health Clinic,” said the Cabinet Secretary.
Dadel also informed that approval was given to provide a special ex-gratia grant and government jobs, on compassionate grounds, to the family members of central paramilitary force personnel belonging to Jharkhand in case they lose their lives during a Maoist attack or while guarding the borders.
In another significant move, the Cabinet approved the Jharkhand University Bill, 2025, which seeks to establish a common set of rules for all state universities. The Cabinet also cleared the proposal for setting up a State University Commission to regulate and monitor higher education in the state.
The Jharkhand Cabinet also allowed a notional pay increment for employees retiring on June 30 or December 31, as per the Government of India’s Office Memorandum dated 20 May, 2025, replacing the previous resolution dated 16 March, 2024.
The BJP, however, has strongly opposed the Jharkhand Cabinet’s decision. BJP state spokesperson Ajay Sah called it “a symbol of petty mentality and distorted political thinking.”
“Whenever there is any positive initiative towards development in Jharkhand, the JMM government tries to turn it into negative controversies,” he said.
“Schemes like Ayushman Bharat and Atal Mohalla Clinic are the result of the revolutionary thinking of the BJP, which empowered the health rights of the poor and the common people. But the Hemant government is insulting and distorting these schemes for its political agenda,” said Sah.
“Atal Bihari Vajpayee has been the creator of the state of Jharkhand, and his name is associated with the memories of the people of Jharkhand; removing Atal ji's name and fulfilling political objectives is an insult not only to a Bharat Ratna but to the soul of the entire Jharkhand,” he added.