92 ayurvedic medical officers in Punjab’s Sangrur deprived of full pay since September

As many as 92 ayurvedic medical officers are still drawing basic salaries even after completing three-year probation period in September last year.

As many as 92 ayurvedic medical officers (AMOs) are still drawing basic salaries even after completing three-year probation period in September last year. These officials, who were entitled to draw full salary since September last year, are receiving ₹10,000 to ₹15,000.

New Indian Rupee 2000 Currency Note after Demonitization (Representational Photo)

Many AMOs said that they had taken loans to survive the probation period and are now struggling to make ends meet and pay EMIs on loans from their meagre salaries.

The AMOs had joined their duties in August 2019, and their three-year probation period ended in August last year. Since then, they have been making rounds of the offices of the directorate ayurveda and secretariat in Chandigarh but to no avail.

An AMO, pleading anonymity, said, “I have been living in rented accommodation since I joined the department, and it is very difficult to pay rent and to make ends meet with just ₹10,000. Therefore, I had taken a loan to survive the three-year probation period. I was hopeful that things will get better once I complete the probation period. Along with other AMOs, my probation period ended in August, but I’m still receiving ₹10,000. And now, I have to take another loan to work in the department.”

“There is a slight delay in clearing their probation period as we had sought some undertaking from AMOs at the district level. We have sent the file of 78 AMOs to the secretariat, and once it is cleared from there, they will start getting full pay. The case of remaining AMOs will be sent later as there are some shortcomings in their cases,” Bhushan said.