ASHAs urges Kerala govt. to keep its promise by increasing honorarium
In a statement here, KAHWA reminded the State government about its promise to increase the honorarium for ASHAs if the Union government was prepared to hike the incentives paid to them.
The strike by a section of ASHA workers in the State, demanding a hike in honorarium as well as a better pay package, has crossed 170 days.
Garnered national attention
It was the agitation by the ASHAs in Kerala that brought national attention to the 'exploitation' faced by this category of health workers and their poor pay and service conditions, elevating it to a significant labour movement.
ASHAS who have been agitating in front of the Secretariat since February 10, had sought a hike in the honorarium paid by the State, along with pension and retirement benefits. Their strike had made national headlines and their demands had figured in both Houses of Parliament, thanks to the outpouring of public support for the demands they raised.
KAHWA said that their agitation garnered widespread support because their demands were just. It said that it was the intense public scrutiny that forced the Centre to announce an increase – even if it was a nominal one – in ASHAs' incentives.
KAHWA said that it had clearly communicated to the leaders of national parties who had visited them at the agitation venue that it was up to the State government to hike the honorarium while the hike in incentives had to be done by the Centre. The Centre had not hiked the incentives for ASHAs in a decade or more
It said that the Chief Minister and other senior officials had said several times that they would increase the honorarium if the Centre hiked the incentives. The Centre has now declared a hike in retirement benefits from ₹20,000 to ₹50,000. The State government should take a cue from the West Bengal government and provide a retirement benefit of ₹5 lakh to ASHAs. It should also stop slashing the fixed incentives given to ASHAs by attaching new eligibility criteria to it, KAHWA said.
It also urged the authorities to implement the decisions of the Central NHM without delay.
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