E-Paper
₹301 crore sanctioned for contractual staff under National Health Mission
Central govt approves ₹301 crore to clear pending salaries of NHM contractual employees in Maharashtra, addressing delays faced for months.
In a major relief for hundreds of contractual employees working under the National Health Mission (NHM), the central government has approved ₹301 crore to clear their pending salaries for April and May 2025, said officials.
NHM staff, including community health officers, outsourced manpower, and other contractual employees working across districts, municipal corporations, and various health institutions in Maharashtra will be beneficiaries of the fund release, stated the official release issued on Thursday.
In Maharashtra, there are 35,000 contractual NHM staff, including 2,855 in Pune district.
According to officials, fund shortage delayed salary payment of NHM staff and persistent efforts by Maharashtra health and family welfare minister Prakash Abitkar to take up the issue with the central government helped in money release the money.
The fund will be used to pay honorarium of NHM workers up to May 2025.
Additionally, the central government has released ₹496.38 crore as the first installment for the year 2025–26, and the state government’s share of ₹302.99 crore will be distributed soon under the health scheme, they said.
NMH Contractual Officers and Staff Association in Pune stated that there has been a delay in salary disbursement for staff over the past seven months.
“Since past seven months, there has been delay of salary by three months, and later two-month payment is released. We are facing delay in disbursement of salary for the first time since NHM was set up 18 years ago,” said Harshal Ranavre, president, NMH Contractual Officers and Staff Association, Pune district.
