Asha’s workers cut off the duration of their hair a protest, demanding an increase in their honorary, in Thirvanantanthapuram, Monday, March 31. Photo credit: PTI
The story until now: For approximately two months, a section of the Community of Social Health Activists (ASHA) of Kerala, has been in a night -day agitation in the streets that demand better benefits of remuneration and retirement. While agitation gained greatness and was also raised in Parliament, the problems posed by the Asha are not solved.
Why are they protesting?
Asha in Kerala receive a monthly honorary or ₹ 7,000 and a fixed incentive or ₹ 3,000. Department in the area where they work (for example, the tribal belt), they also obtain additional incentives. The payment of all honorary and incentives depend on them fulfilling certain criteria related to work. The State pays the rate, while the incentives are paid by the center and the State with a 60-40 relationship. The state government states that Kerala pays one of the highest fees to Ashas, the incentives that the Government of the Union gave to Ashas for several services has remained the same since the beginning of the scheme. The statement of Kerala’s Minister of Health, Veena George, that almost all Asha in the state are drawing between ₹ 10,000 ₹ 13,000 per month were refuted by the ASHA who pointed out that they received much less.
What are the long -term demands?
In Kerala, which has one of the highest minimum salary structures, and where daily salaries for varied works vary anywhere from ₹ 700- ₹ 1,200, the ASHA earn less than ₹ 250 Dailyy. They thought that their immediate demands were the release of pending amounts due to them, they also demanded that the criteria related to the rate be eliminated. Its main demand is to increase the rate to ₹ 21000 for months to receive at least one minimum salary (₹ 700 daily). They also sought a global sum of ₹ 5 Lakh in retirement. Asha’s scheme, when conceived in 2005, provides that you on the health volunteers is rather a regular workforce. Therefore, they do not receive fixed salary, or other benefits of Social Security. Ashas points out that forever they would remain on the sidelines unless they became a regular workforce.
Also read | The agitation to continue until the wages rose, the Kerala government retired from the conversations: the workers of Asha Protestants
What does the state say?
The state government has accumulated at all times that the asha are under the government of the Union and that it was up to the center to change ashas making fundamental changes in the scheme, such as reviewing the pattern of incentives and the voloyment-minister-mining-mining-minute-minute-minute-minute-mining-minute workforce. The State has also called the center to refuse to grant the cash subsidy that is due to the National State Health Mission (NHM) by 2023-24-24- ₹ 636 million rupees, which has precipitated the current crisis and totally derails the NHM. He thought that the Government issued orders to launch the conditions that joined the payment of the honorary, has refused to relate to the demand for ashas of an increase in the benefits of honorary or retirement, citing the precarious finance of the State.
Moreover, the state government is upset that the Association of Health Workers of Kerala Asha (Kahwa) that leads the agitation is doing it in front of the Secretariat and not in front of the Raj Bhavan. He has tried to discredit the agitation, accusing Kahwa or leading an “antigubernational” movement.
What is the current position?
The Minister of Health of the Union has declared in the Rajya Sabha that the incentives for ASHA would be reviewed, but the time frame for the same has not been fixed.
Duration The last round of negotiations, the state government presented a suggestion that a committee was established to study the problems of ASHA, including the Honorary walk. Kahwa suggested that, in the interim, the Asha are given a walk or at least ₹ 3000, an increase of ₹ 100 per day, which was rejected by the State.
Published – April 16, 2025 08:30 am isth
