AYUSH healthworkers who served during the COVID-19 pandemic protested at Neelam Park in Bhopal on Tuesday, seeking reinstatement in the state health department and contract appointments under the National Health Mission (NHM). The workers said their services were ended after funding for their posts stopped on March 31, 2022.
The protesting group includes AYUSH doctors and other medical staff who were deployed during the pandemic, when health facilities required additional personnel. They are now seeking continued employment and postings against vacant positions across the public health system.
The workers have demanded appointments in district hospitals, medical colleges, Primary Health Centres and Community Health Centres. Their request links the end of pandemic-specific staffing to the availability of unfilled roles in facilities that provide healthcare closer to urban neighbourhoods and rural communities.
According to the association, the government should consider appointing the former pandemic workforce on a contractual basis through the NHM. The workers said they had served when the state faced heightened healthcare demands and were now asking for formal recognition of that service through continued employment.
The association also cited Bihar, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh as states that had provided contract jobs to COVID-19 workers. The claim was presented as part of the protesters’ demand for a similar employment arrangement in Madhya Pradesh.
The dispute highlights the administrative transition that followed the withdrawal of pandemic-related funding for temporary health posts. While the workers’ services ended in March 2022, their latest demand is for placement in existing vacancies rather than the continuation of the same pandemic programme.
The protesters’ appeal now rests with the state health department and the NHM, which would need to determine whether vacant positions can be used for contractual appointments and how the former pandemic workforce could be considered. The report did not include a response from the state government or details of any decision on the demands.
