Over 22,000 NHM doctors, health workers in Assam face job insecurity: Congress

The Assam Congress has flagged a bid by the State’s Bharatiya Janata Party led government to derail health services in rural areas.

Doctors associated with the party said the fate of 122 doctors and some 22,000 health sector employees hangs in the balance following a November 14 notification by the National Health Mission (NHM), which stated that their tenure will end by November 30.

This, the doctors said, indicated the government’s attempt to remove a section of doctors and health workers from rural areas.

“This abrupt decision, stripping about 22,000 health workers of job security, will deprive people in rural Assam of healthcare services,” Mridupavan Mahanta, the chairman of the party’s Health Service Cell, said on Tuesday (November 25, 2025).

Criticising Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for not fulfilling his promise in 2018 to provide the NHM medical staff on par with the 7th Pay Commission awards, he said the State’s medical colleges suffer from an acute shortage of doctors, specialists and technical staff.

Assam has 12 State medical colleges and an All India Institute of Medical Sciences.

“Many medical colleges have been constructed in the name of improving healthcare in Assam. New buildings are being inaugurated and equipped with laboratories and machinery, yet there is a severe lack of specialists,” Dr. Mahanta said.

“The Chief Minister has announced plans to increase the number of medical colleges to 29, but even the existing medical colleges are not functioning properly due to the shortage of doctors and nurses,” Amit Kalwar, another doctor, said.

District health centres have machines but no trained technicians to operate them, increasing pressure on the medical colleges, Congress leaders said.

They said resident doctors run the State’s medical colleges due to the absence of specialist doctors. “Whenever inspection teams from the Medical Council of India visit, doctors are temporarily shifted from one medical college to another,” Dr. Kalwar said.

The Congress also underscored the suspension of Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana card services in private hospitals in Assam for a long time, causing immense hardship to the poor. The PMJAY is a government funded health insurance scheme providing free healthcare coverage of up to ₹5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalisation.

“Radiotherapy machines for cancer patients and cardiac care equipment in government hospitals frequently remain out of order, forcing patients in emergencies to go to private hospitals for treatment instead of availing free services. But PMJAY cards are not accepted in the private hospitals,” Dr. Mahanta said.