ASHA workers stage protest in Vijayawada over long-pending demands

ASHAs from NTR district staging a protest at Dharna Chowk in Vijayawada on Monday.
| Photo Credit: K.V.S. GIRI

Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) Workers’ Union staged a protest here on Monday, November 18, demanding the State government address their pending issues immediately.

Addressing the gathering, the union State general secretary, K. Dhanalakshmi, emphasized that ASHA workers, who provide essential health services to the poor, must be recognized as workers by the government and provide them with necessary facilities. The ASHA workers who have been working for a long time should be paid minimum wages.

She said the immediate cessation of assigning tasks unrelated to their work profile was necessary. She requested that the government provide retirement benefits to ASHA workers, who are often removed from service without such provisions once they reach 60 years of age.

Ms. Dhanalakshmi further stressed the need for a 62-year retirement age policy, especially as many ASHAs are prematurely dying due to accidents or illness while on duty. She called for the introduction of an ASHA worker group insurance and mentioned the promises made by the government in February 2024 regarding medical leaves, maternity leaves, and a variety of other benefits like ₹60,000 for retirement benefits, ₹20,000 for expenditure, and insurance coverage of ₹2 lakh for natural death and ₹6 lakh for accidental death. These promises, however, remain unfulfilled even after nine months, as the files are still pending in the finance department, she added.

ASHA Workers Union district general secretary A. Kamala, CITU district president A. Venkateswar Rao and others spoke.