ASHA workers in Karnataka go on indefinite strike

Bengaluru: The ASHA workers in Karnataka have begun an indefinite strike, starting Tuesday. Nagalakshmi D, State Secretary of AIUTUC, said that the strike will continue till the government heeds to their demands. The strike is on at Bengaluru’s Freedom Park.

Currently, nearly 25,000 ASHA workers, representing the 42,000 odd ASHA workers in Karnataka, have come under the banner of Karnataka Rajya Samyukta Asha Karyakarteyara Sangha, backed by All India United Trade Union Centre (AIUTUC).

As ASHA workers play a critical role in immunisation, mother-child care, leprosy and tuberculosis surveys, an indefinite strike may affect the community health across the state. As a result of the strike, the ongoing immunisation programme, every Tuesday, is likely to be affected.

The collective fight of ASHA workers to get a fixed monthly honorarium of Rs 15,000 continues this year too. ASHA workers receive a monthly honorarium of Rs 5,000 from the state and Rs 2,000 from the Centre. However, discrepancies in entries on state and Centre’s online portals Ashasoft and Reproductive and Child Health (RCH) deny the bare minimum they receive.

In response to their strike, official of the state health department, received a copy of their memorandum.

Earlier, in February 2024, a strike was withdrawn after Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s assurance to address the demands. “The struggle continues as the demands are unresolved,” said Nagalakshmi.

Their struggles continue

Ambramma Dandin, an Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) from Bagalkote’s Ilkal headed to work weeks after her hysterectomy last year. Schooled only till class 7, Ambramma is not well-versed with smartphones and ends up paying up to Rs 500 per month to the youth who help her in filling up details in Health and Nutrition Survey (HNS) app.

Bengaluru-based ASHA worker, Farhana, has not been receiving performance-based incentives due to gaps in making entries in the Ashasoft portal for over a year. Despite working for a decade in the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike’s (BBMP) West Zone, Farhana says, the monthly honorarium of Rs 5,000 from the state government does not get credited to her account fully.

“Unlike rural areas, people keep changing their residential address in Bengaluru. It is a challenge to ensure regular monitoring,” she said, adding that it is worsened by multi-storey apartments to climb.

Sumitra, an ASHA worker for 15 years in the South Zone was not given leave when her five- year-old daughter was diagnosed with dengue last year, while being forced to create awareness about the mosquito-borne disease in the community. She says, no safety gloves or masks are provided while taking sputum samples of persons affected with tuberculosis.

Demands

• Fix monthly honorarium of Rs 15,000 from state and Centre

• Additional Rs 2,000 for urban ASHA workers

• Release all pending payments

• Withdraw the use of smartphones or provide mobile data

• Withdraw work entry in Ashasoft and RCH portal

• Increase retirement benefit to Rs 5 lakh

• Provide three month incentive in case of health issues and accident relief fund

• Conduct annual comprehensive health check up for all ASHA workers and provide free treatment in case of serious illnesses

• Recognition of ASHA workers as government workers with ESI, PF