Tripura NHM employees Voice Anger Over Delayed Reforms, Unequal Pay and Vacancies and unequal treatment compared to Ayushman Bharat staff.
Tripura’s NHM (National Health Mission) workforce is simmering with dissatisfaction that brews within cutting much deeper than the highly publicized health insurance disputes. While the debate around insurance continues to dominate headlines, NHM employees point to a far more alarming and systemic problem — the persistent neglect of their welfare, professional growth, and human resource needs by the state’s health administration. According to insiders, this neglect has snowballed into a full-blown crisis, threatening not just morale, but also the future effectiveness of NHM in Tripura.
At the core of this issue lies a glaring gap between policy commitments and actual implementation. During a key State Health Society meeting held in December 2024 — chaired by the state’s Health Secretary — a set of concrete steps were outlined to address the grievances of NHM employees and improve their working conditions. These directives aimed to establish structural reforms such as a dedicated HR policy and a formal promotion system tailored for NHM personnel. However, nearly four months later, these plans remain unexecuted, and the enthusiasm around these announcements has turned into frustration and disillusionment.
The responsibility for executing these reforms was entrusted to the Additional Secretary of Health, who also formerly held the post of NHM Mission Director. Despite this, there has been negligible movement on the ground, with progress remaining virtually stagnant. This administrative inertia is seen by many within the department as symptomatic of a larger culture of apathy and bureaucratic red tape that continues to plague the NHM’s functioning.
One of the most pressing challenges is the alarming number of unfilled NHM positions across the state. Reports indicate that over 1,400 posts remain vacant — a staggering figure that highlights the disconnect between public health needs and institutional responsiveness. With the exception of a recent meeting, there has been no visible recruitment drive to address this shortfall. The result is a tragic paradox: while funds remain unutilized and earmarked positions gather dust, hundreds of qualified professionals remain unemployed, and existing NHM staff are stretched thin.
|Also Read : Shocking Bureaucratic Apathy: NHM Funds Unspent as Employee Battles Cancer |
Additionally, promises to introduce a dedicated HR policy and a systematic promotion structure specific to NHM employees have gone unfulfilled. The absence of these essential mechanisms has led to a deeply demoralized workforce, with staff members feeling overlooked and undervalued despite their significant contributions to state healthcare. Internal sources reveal that repeated calls to revive the ‘Public Health Management Cadre’ — once proposed and even initiated under central government directives — have been consistently ignored or derailed. The reasons? Insiders cite entrenched internal conflicts, ego clashes among the three primary health directorates, and a tendency to deliberately stall NHM-related progress in favor of more politically convenient agendas.
Further inflaming tensions are reports of clandestine salary adjustments that have allegedly been made without transparency or fairness. Many employees believe these secretive processes have bred favoritism and targeted discrimination, further eroding trust in the system. Such incidents not only demoralize hardworking staff but also undermine the credibility of the administration.
The inequity becomes even more stark when NHM employees compare their working conditions and benefits with those under Ayushman Bharat, a centrally sponsored scheme operating under the same health department. While NHM staff grapple with stagnant pay, irregular benefits, and lack of social security, Ayushman Bharat employees have reportedly enjoyed regular salary hikes ranging between 15% to 31%, along with access to Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) benefits — privileges still denied to many within the NHM ecosystem. This glaring disparity, despite both sets of workers operating under the same authorities, buildings, and even the same Health Minister, has fueled feelings of injustice and resentment among NHM staff.
Despite these challenges, the NHM remains an indispensable pillar of Tripura’s public health apparatus. Whether it’s executing national health programs, responding to emergencies, or filling in critical workforce gaps, it is invariably NHM personnel who are called upon. Yet, when it comes to acknowledging their contributions through fair policies, pay structures, and entitlements, the response from decision-makers appears lackluster at best.
An aggrieved NHM staff member captured the collective sentiment, stating, “It is indeed unfortunate that a paralysis grips policymakers and bureaucrats when it comes to ensuring fair salaries and the constitutional entitlements we deserve. Despite being well-qualified and skilled, NHM employees are consistently denied what is rightfully ours.”
The state’s ongoing failure to act decisively on these pressing issues raises serious questions about its commitment to strengthening healthcare delivery and respecting the dignity of its workforce. As the discontent within the NHM continues to simmer, the credibility and resilience of Tripura’s health system hang in the balance.
