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Punjab: Day-long strike by Aam Aadmi Clinic staff cripples primary care
Aam Aadmi Clinic staff later temporarily called off agitation for two weeks after a meeting with National Health Mission officials
Punjab’s primary healthcare services were severely disrupted on Monday as thousands of contractual employees of the state’s Aam Aadmi Clinics (AACs) went on strike, leaving over 1,000 government-run clinics non-operational and inconveniencing lakhs of patients.
The protest affected routine outpatient services at the clinics, which together record over one lakh patient visits every day. In several districts, doctors reported to work but did not attend to patients as the supporting staff, including pharmacists and clinic assistants, stayed away from duty and staged sit-in protests.
The protesters, under the banner of the Aam Aadmi Clinic Sanjha Front, held demonstrations outside district civil surgeon offices and other government establishments, demanding that the Punjab government absorb them into the health department through regular posts.
They also demanded casual leave, medical leave and other service benefits available to regular government staff.
The protesters complained that they had been working on an outsourcing basis despite playing a key role in delivering primary healthcare services since the clinics were launched.
They also sought recognition of their experience at Aam Aadmi Clinics while applying for regular government posts, alleging that their years of service were currently not being counted during recruitment.
Vishal Kumar, a pharmacist from an Aam Aadmi Clinic in Sangrur, explained that despite undergoing standard selection procedures and written tests, workers were placed on an empanelment model rather than given regular posts under the directorate of health services.
With the clinics remaining shut, patients seeking treatment for common illnesses were forced to return without medical consultation or medicines.
The disruption also affected free laboratory investigations and screening services routinely provided at the clinics, including antenatal check-ups, blood sugar and blood pressure tests, pregnancy tests, dengue screening, malaria tests, routine blood and urine investigations, besides the distribution of free medicines.
Sukhjinder Singh, a resident of Bathinda’s Joga Nand, said due to the strike at the Aam Aadmi Clinic near his house, he was forced to take his three-year-old daughter to the civil hospital, located 7 km away, for diarrhoea treatment and had to wait for more than an hour with the ailing child.
The Aam Aadmi Clinics have become the backbone of Punjab’s primary healthcare network since their launch, offering free consultations, medicines and a range of diagnostic tests closer to people’s homes. The state currently has 1,090 such clinics, which collectively cater to over one lakh patients every day.
Later, following a meeting with officials of the National Health Mission (NHM), the employees announced that they were temporarily suspending their agitation.
Paramjeet Singh, state president of the Aam Aadmi Clinic Sanjha Front, said the talks with the NHM director were held in a positive atmosphere.
“The department has sought 15 days to consider our demands. Keeping that assurance in view, we have decided to postpone the strike for the time being, and our employees will resume duties from Tuesday,” he said.
Talking to HT, Punjab health minister Dr Balbir Singh said, “Health directors held a meeting with the representatives today and the government has agreed to consider their demands. I hope they will resume their duties tomorrow.”
