The Gauhati High Court has directed the Assam Government to create a separate service cadre for Rural Health Practitioners (RHPs), now designated as Community Health Professionals (CHPs), in a significant ruling aimed at strengthening rural healthcare and protecting the service rights of trained medical personnel.
Justice Soumitra Saikia directed the state government to expedite the work of an existing committee tasked with framing a comprehensive service structure for Community Health Professionals. The Court instructed the committee to prepare recommendations covering the creation of a separate cadre, pay scales, grade structure, promotion avenues, eligibility criteria, service conditions, health benefits and other employment-related provisions.
The committee has been asked to submit its recommendations within 90 days from the date it receives a certified copy of the order. After receiving the report, the Assam Government has been directed to examine the recommendations and take appropriate steps for their implementation.
The order came while hearing a petition filed by Bikram Pathak and 608 other Community Health Professionals who had completed the Diploma in Medicine and Rural Health Care (DMRHC) under the Assam Rural Health Regulatory Authority Act, 2004.
Following the repeal of the 2004 Act, the petitioners were registered under the Assam Community Health Professionals (Registration and Competency) Act, 2015, and have continued serving under the National Health Mission (NHM). The petitioners argued that the change in law and their redesignation as Community Health Professionals had adversely affected their professional status and service conditions. They sought protection of the benefits earned under the earlier legislation along with proper career progression and recognition.
The High Court observed that the Supreme Court, in its 2023 judgment, had already protected the rights, qualifications and benefits acquired by these professionals under the 2004 Act. The Court held that their diploma, training, experience and professional status cannot be taken away merely because of a subsequent legislative change.
Justice Saikia further observed that a change in designation should not diminish their ability to deliver healthcare services, particularly in rural areas where trained healthcare personnel continue to play a vital role.
Highlighting the importance of rural healthcare, the Court noted that nearly 62 to 63 per cent of India's population resides in rural areas. It observed that qualified Community Health Professionals should continue to complement doctors in delivering healthcare services, thereby strengthening the state's rural health infrastructure.
The ruling is expected to provide greater clarity on the service conditions of Community Health Professionals in Assam while paving the way for a structured career framework and improved healthcare delivery in rural parts of the state.
