Hyderabad: The Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA), who gathered at the Commission of Health and Family Welfare’s office at Koti in Hyderabad, demanding a fixed honorarium of Rs 18,000 per month, were taken into custody and were not allowed to submit their representation to the Commissioner on Monday, February 23.
According to P Jaya Lakshmi, president of the Telangana ASHA Workers Union, which is affiliated to the Centre for Indian Trade Unions (CITU), said in a statement that from Monday morning itself, the police have been taking ASHA workers into custody from their homes across the state.
“Despite the restrictions imposed by the police, the ASHA workers managed to reach Hyderabad from all the districts. They reached Koti and took out a rally from Metro pillar no 1204 to the Commissionerate, but the police blocked the four roads near the Koti main signal,” Jala Lakshmi told Siasat.com.
“From 12 to 3 pm, ASHA workers held a dharna, during which the police stationed there in significant numbers took most of them into custody and ferried them away from the scene,” she said.
Videos from the scene also showed an ASHA worker falling unconscious, after which the police shifted her to a hospital for treatment.
The demand for a fixed Rs 18,000 monthly honorarium has been the principal demand of the ASHA workers for several years. The Congress, in its 2023 election manifesto, had also promised to increase their honorarium and provide them with job security.
Just before last year’s budget, the ASHA workers demanded that the Congress government to implement its own election promise. The workers have put forth the same demand, along with 17 other demands, which they said should be passed during the coming budget session of the Assembly.
The demands of ASHA workers
The demands put forward by ASHA workers are the immediate implementation of the Rs 1,500 increase in honorarium announced by the Centre and clearing six months of arrears recommended under the Pay Revision Commission (PRC) from July to December 2021. They have also sought payment of pending dues from 2022 to 2025 for work carried out in leprosy and pulse polio surveys, as well as outstanding payments for election and examination duties.
The workers have demanded the issuance of Government Orders (GO) providing Rs 50 lakh insurance cover and Rs 50,000 towards last rites in the event of a death in the family. Among other demands are the extension of Provident Fund (PF), Employees’ State Insurance (ESI) benefits and assurance of job security.
They have asked for promotional avenues after completing training as Auxiliary Nurse and Midwives (ANM) and General Nurse and Midwives (GNM). The workers have also sought weekly holidays on Sundays and festival leave as previously assured, cancellation of targets related to Antenatal Care (ANC), Postnatal Care (PNC) and other assignments and retirement benefits of Rs 5 lakh along with a pension equal to half their monthly honorarium. In addition, they have called for 20 days of paid casual leave annually, six months of paid medical leave and sanctioned maternity leave.
The ASHA workers have demanded that they not be assigned Non-Communicable Disease (NCD) online work or made to carry sputum boxes, that quality uniforms made of Poonam cloth be provided and that unpaid work be identified and reduced. They have also sought the extension of all government welfare schemes to them and the construction of dedicated restrooms for ASHA workers in government hospitals across the state.
