After a week-long protest, at least 77,000 Accredited Social Health Activists, commonly known as ASHA workers, have called off their strike as the Maharashtra government has assured them an honorarium hike of Rs 1,500 a month.
These female frontline health workers had launched an indefinite strike on June 15 and were boycotting their duties demanding fair wages, and insurance/compensation along with some other demands. Gaon Connection had reported on it on June 15.
In response to their indefinite strike, State Health Minister Rajesh Tope yesterday, on June 23, announced that the ASHA workers will get a monthly increment of Rs 1,000 in their honorarium and Rs 500 as COVID-19 allowance from July this year. This means, an honorarium rise of Rs 1,500 per month for each of the ASHAs in the state from the next month.
An expensive smartphone will also be provided to them, the health minister tweeted.
After this decision of the state government, ASHA workers called off their strike but they are far from satisfied. Their main complaint was the low honorariums offered to these frontline health workers despite taking additional responsibilities in the COVID-19 pandemic.
“With the total increment and allowance, ASHAs will get a fixed salary of six thousand and five hundred from July 1. We are happy but not satisfied with the decision,” Aurangabad-based Mangal Thombre, general secretary of Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), an assembly of workers in the country, told Gaon Connection. Thombre was leading the ASHA workers’ strike in Aurangabad.
“At this point in time, we pay at least one thousand rupees for just a [gas] cylinder. It is too difficult to manage household expenses with this income these days. We need decent wages,” she added.
The ASHA workers had demanded at least Rs 22,000 a month salary along with karamchari darza (workers’ status) and compensation for colleagues who died in the line of COVID duty.
Maharashtra government has also announced that the group heads of ASHA workers in the state will get a fixed increment of Rs 1,200 per month. An additional COVID-19 allowance of Rs 500 will also be provided to them. Meanwhile, ASHAs helping at the vaccination centres to manage crowds will get an additional Rs 200 allowance a day.
Compensation claim still unsettled
Last year, the central government introduced the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package Insurance scheme for all healthcare workers including ASHAs engaged in COVID19 response. The insurance scheme provides a life insurance cover of Rs 50 lakhs [Rs 5 million] in case of death due to the coronavirus.
According to Thombre, since the start of the pandemic last year, at least 26 ASHAs have died due to COVID19 across Maharashtra. “And none of them have received even fifty paisa [Re 0.5] forget getting fifty lakh [Rs 5 million],” she claimed. Gaon Connection could not independently verify this data.
Yesterday, the health minister was quoted as saying in a media report that “the data compilation work is going on and the government is trying to settle such claims at the earliest.”
“The minister has assured us that he would try to provide compensation for dead workers. We have also informed him about our other demands such as providing karamchari darza (workers’ status) to ASHA workers, but he has so far accepted the pay hike,” Thombre told Gaon Connection.
Last month, when a similar strike was initiated by ASHA workers in Karnataka over pending wages, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), took cognisance of the issue and observed that the allegations, if true, “raise very crucial issues as the entire health management system of the vast rural population across India depends upon these ASHA workers”.
