Agitating ASHA workers in Kerala welcome Centre's incentive hike

ASHA workers in Kerala, who have been agitating for several months demanding a hike in honorarium and post-retirement benefits from the state government, on Saturday welcomed the Centre's reported decision to increase their fixed monthly incentive.

They said the union government's move would benefit over 10 lakh ASHA workers across the country.

According to media reports, the Centre has approved a proposal to raise the fixed monthly incentive for ASHA workers from Rs 2,000 to Rs 3,500 during the recent 9th meeting of the Mission Steering Group (MSG). Reports also suggest the Centre will enhance retirement benefits.

S Mini, state vice-president of the Kerala ASHA Health Workers Association (KAHWA), whose members have been staging an indefinite protest in front of the Secretariat here, said they had already conducted two Parliament marches raising the same demand.

''We welcome the Union government's decision to increase the fixed monthly incentive. It had remained unchanged since the scheme's launch 18 years ago. We've been demanding a revision for years,'' she told reporters here.

Mini said MPs from Kerala had visited the protest site in February and assured the workers that the matter would be taken up with the Centre. The reported decisions are a continuation of that assurance, she added.

She said the Centre has raised the fixed monthly incentive from Rs 2,000 to Rs 3,500 and the retirement benefit from Rs 20,000 to Rs 50,000.

''However, we will call off our agitation only when the state government increases the honorarium as demanded,'' she said, adding that the state could afford the hike.

A section of Accredited Social Health Activist workers has been protesting outside the Secretariat since February 10, demanding a hike in their state-paid honorarium from Rs 7,000 to Rs 21,000 and a post-retirement benefit of Rs 5 lakh.

In Kerala, ASHA workers currently receive Rs 7,000 as honorarium, fully funded by the state. Fixed incentives are shared in a 60:40 ratio between the Centre and the state.

Meanwhile, BJP state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar said the union government has fulfilled its promise by increasing the monthly incentive to Rs 3,500.

The state government should now be prepared to increase the wages of ASHA workers, he said in a statement issued here. While Kerala pays Rs 7,000, BJP-ruled Maharashtra provides Rs 10,000 to ASHA workers, he pointed out.

Timely revisions in incentives for ASHA workers are being made based on the priorities of each project, and the Centre is providing both technical and financial assistance, Chandrasekhar said.

The CPI(M)-led LDF government in the state should provide ''the rightful benefits to ASHA workers without politicising the issue,'' he added.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)