ASHA workers protest, seek Rs15K salary, smartphones

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, July 29

A protest was held by members of the Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) and Facilitators Union at Bharat Nagar Chowk today in support of their long-pending demands. Traffic came to a standstill during the protest, inconveniencing commuters.

District president of the Union Kirandeep Kaur said they had been working tirelessly during the pandemic but the government was not paying any heed towards their demands. “Our main demands include a fixed salary of Rs 15,000 per month, Rs 500 per tour, smartphone and monthly incentives,” she said.

Kirandeep said “Our salaries should be fixed so that we have a sense of security and are able to carry out our work with confidence”.

Another ASHA worker, Rajbir Kaur, said they had been assigned the work to feed data on the government portal and hence needed a smartphone. “Not every ASHA worker has a smartphone and in such a situation, it becomes very difficult to enter the data. Sometimes, we go back home and ask someone in the family/neighbour to lend us a phone to do our work. We are not able to upload the data by 5 pm, as required, because we do not have smartphones,” Rajbir stated.

Kirandeep further said they had worked as frontline workers during the pandemic but were not given proper safety gear, thus risking their as well as the lives of their family members. So, the government should accept their demands and fix a monthly salary.