The Karnataka State ASHA Workers Association affiliated to All India United Trade Union Centre (AIUTUC) would stage a State-level protest on May 17 at Freedom Park in Bengaluru to draw the State government’s attention towards their long pending demands.
K. Somashekar Yadgiri, State president of the association said that the ASHA workers were not paid suitable incentives by the government. Each ASHA worker visit every household assigned to her, usually spending much more than the mandated hours a day on this work.
It’s an interminable list of tasks for ASHA workers, they ensure that not a single house is deprived on health surveys of health facilities, but they are paid a pittance of ₹5000 a month for the exemplary work they are doing, Mr. Yadgiri said.
Though ASHA workers play a major role in creating awareness and facilitating community health care in rural areas, they are deprived of the benefits provided by the government. There are 42,000 ASHA workers in Karnataka and around 2,000 in Kalaburagi district, he added.
