Bottles of alcohol lying outside the village health centre.
Community Health Officers (CHOs) working at 10,032 Ayushman Aarogya Mandirs (Village Health Clinics) in Andhra Pradesh say they will face severe hardship if the state government makes attendance at the Facial Recognition System (FRS) mandatory at 8 p.m. The AP Midlevel Health Providers/Community Health Officers’ Association has urged the government to reconsider the move.
A circular issued on November 12 by Health and Family Commissioner G Veerapandian said CHOs will get an incentive of ₹5,000 from December 1 only if they submit their attendance at 8 p.m.
In a November 17 press release, association president N. Niranjan said many CHOs work in remote or hilly areas and it is not safe to stay till 8:00 p.m. Most of the VHCs are located on the outskirts of the village, he said, adding that the timing violates labor norms as the CHOs work from 9 am to 4 pm.
A woman CHO of NTR district said the centers often attract anti-social elements after dark, recounting cases of broken liquor bottles outside the premises and drunken men causing disturbances. “It’s not fair to put the 20-hour rule on us,” she said.
The association’s general secretary B. Sandeep Kumar pointed out that more than 8,000 of the 10,032 CHOs are women. “Rural areas have poor street lighting. How can the government expect CHOs to stay till 8pm?” he asked. He added that CHOs cannot handle emergencies by themselves because procedures like CPR require at least two people.
Under the National Health Mission, CHOs are entitled to a salary of ₹25,000 and an incentive of ₹15,000. However, the circular now makes ₹5,000 of the incentive conditional on attendance at 8 p.m. “Instead of releasing the entire ₹15,000 due to us, the government has added this rule. How is that fair?” Mr. Sandeep Kumar said and observed that incentives are already pending for nine months.
He added that many CHOs live far from their centers due to lack of housing allowance. “It is impractical and dangerous for us to stay till 8 pm,” he said, recalling that Health Minister Satya Kumar Yadav had promised in May that the FRS requirement would be removed.
The association, which has opposed the rule several times, said it has been seeking a meeting with the minister since May. They urged the government to withdraw the mandate and allow them to present their concerns.
Their key demands include hike in basic pay from ₹25,000 to ₹30,000, abolition of compulsory attendance at 8 pm and provision of hostels near centres.
Published – 17 Nov 2025 20:41 IST
