In a major development, the Telangana government announced a significant hike in the honorarium paid to Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA).
The ASHA workers would forthwith get ₹6,000 a month against ₹1,500 that they were receiving till now and the enhancement in the honorarium would be applicable from the current month itself. Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao announced the decision when ASHA workers called on him at his camp office here on Friday. The Chief Minister said the present announcement was the first instalment of the total enhancement proposed for the ASHA workers and the government would progressively take the salary paid to them on par with the Anganwadi teachers. Qualified ASHA workers would be given preference in the appointments as ANMs and instructions would be issued to the officials concerned to ensure that these workers were not engaged in any work other than the health-related issues.
The Chief Minister’s response came after the workers represented to him the problems they had been facing in handling multiple tasks being given to them from time to time while there was no enhancement in their wage. Mr. Chandrasekhar Rao lamented that these workers were being treated like “bonded labourers” in the absence of job charts earmarking work to them.
Though they were entrusted with numerous other responsibilities, they were not being paid additional wage for successfully delivering on the same. The government had therefore decided to enhance their wage as also make them partners in effectively taking health and family welfare programmes launched by the government to the people at the grass-root level. “The ASHA workers should dedicate themselves to achieve the goal of healthy Telangana and it is the responsibility of the government to provide necessary facilities and benefits to them,” he said.
He directed the officials concerned to prepare job charts for ASHA workers so that they could deliver the services effectively. Ministers T. Harish Rao and C. Lakshma Reddy, Government’s Advisor G. Vivek, Principal Health Secretary Rajeswar Tiwari and other senior officials were present.
