NEW DELHI: The abrupt decision to shut down 121 mohalla clinics across the capital has been challenged by the Mohalla Clinic Staff Union, which claimed that Chief Minister Rekha Gupta-led government violated a Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) order that had stayed any termination of mohalla clinic staff till March 2026.
The staff union said a miscellaneous application has been submitted to a CAT’s bench that was hearing the case of 31 mohalla clinics shut by the Delhi government in August, this year.
“When the CAT has already given a relief to Mohalla Clinics employees from termination till March 2036, the decision to terminate 500 more employees by shutting 121 clinics further is a violation of the Tribunal’s order,” said Jitender Kumar, president of the Mohalla Clinic Staff Union.
According to the Mohalla Clinic Staff Union, the move has left hundreds of contractual doctors, pharmacists, and assistants jobless overnight. The employees claimed that they were promised job security and assured of being absorbed into the newly rebranded Ayushman Arogya Mandirs, but no such step was taken before the closures began.
“We were assured by Chief Minister Rekha Gupta during the Janata Darbar held on October 16 that all existing Mohalla Clinic staff would be adjusted in Ayushman Arogya Mandirs. However, the government has started shutting down more clinics without providing jobs to existing employees,” said Kumar. Kumar also alleged that the administration was coercing employees to hand over clinic inventories despite the CAT’s interim order.
“No assurance has been given regarding absorption and we are being branded as AAP workers for simply demanding our rights. The staff are being threatened to surrender clinic materials by CDMO and state programme officers,” he said.
The government has decided to shut down 121 mohalla clinics running in portal cabins.
The health department is yet to issue an official clarification on the matter.
