Hundreds of village health volunteers, also known as Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs), who link remote rural communities with hospitals have claimed that they have not been paid their salaries for over nine months.
There are more than 500 activists in the Nilgiris district alone.
They said that they had been working for over eight years under the National Rural Health Mission. While there are volunteers in other districts who get paid a monthly salary, those in Tamil Nadu are paid based on the amount of work they perform based on certain parameters, like infant deliveries with their assistance, said a volunteer of ASHA.
We help the health department at the grassroots level, going to villages and checking for dengue cases, cholera, and administering polio-drops, said another worker. Most of them get up to ₹ 4,000 a month.
They had recently met the deputy director of health and family welfare and had raised the matter with him. They met the labour officer at the office of the Deputy Commissioner of Labour too in Coonoor on Friday.
J. Haldorai, Nilgiris district secretary of the CITU, said that all ASHA workers in the district were women. They ensured that basic healthcare reached the homes of the rural poor, especially tribal people, and tea estate workers. He added that it would be beneficial for the families of the workers if their salaries were paid soon, as Deepavali was fast approaching.
