On 30 November, 2022, the Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA), who work in Bengaluru Urban limits, held a protest to draw attention to their delayed salaries and incentives. They are disappointed at how frequently they are forced to stage a protest in order to get their salaries released on time. Over 150 ASHA workers demanded that their delayed salaries and dues be paid and their monthly bus passes be issued.
The workers have reportedly not received salaries and incentives for the last three months. Additionally, they are facing some technical issues with the Reproductive and Child Health (RCH) portal that affects their remuneration. This RCH portal contains all their work data and the Union government credits their salaries based on this data.
The workers have demanded that their salaries be credited on the fifth of every month. Also, they want the authorities to not force them to do additional work, such as work related to Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA) cards, elections, eSanjeevini, and so on.
According to the Karnataka Rajya Samyukta ASHA Karyakartheyara Sangha, their issues pertaining to RCH have neither been resolved nor their pending salaries cleared, despite being assured by the health commissioner of positive action last month.
The workers plan to hold a bigger demonstration if the authorities fail to resolve their issues.
Recently, the ASHA workers in Ludhiana staged a protest in front of the office of Ludhiana Deputy Commissioner, accusing the government of failing to fulfil their demand for increased incentives. The workers stated that they were promised double incentives if AAP forms a government in the state. However, no discussions have taken place on the subject to date, even eight months after the said government took control of the AAP state administration.
The workers demanded a monthly pay of Rs 26,000 as remuneration, along with an increase in their uniform allowance to Rs 1500. They also demanded that every worker be given a smart phone, pension facilities, and health insurance coverage up to Rs 5 Lakh.
