Sonia Gandhi seeks doubling of Centre's contribution to pay of ASHA, anganwadi workers

New Delhi: Flagging the distress faced by women frontline workers, top Congress leader Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday demanded doubling of the union government’s contribution to their pay and filling of nearly three lakh vacancies in Integrated Child Development Services Scheme (ICDS).

Raising the issue in Rajya Sabha during Zero Hour, she said women workers implementing critical government programmes like ASHA workers, anganwadi workers and helpers and the community resource persons under the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) are facing "continued distress".

"Across the country, ASHA workers undertake immunisation, mobilisation, maternal health, and family welfare, yet they remain volunteers with low honorarium and limited social security. Anganwadi workers are similarly paid a meagre base honorarium of Rs 4,500 and Rs 2,250 per month by the union government," she said.

"Beyond low pay, there are currently nearly three lakh vacancies in the ICDS at various levels. These gaps leave lakhs and lakhs of children and mothers without essential services. Even when filled, these posts fall short of population norms due to the lack of updated census figures since 2011," she said.

Urging the government to work closely with the states, she demanded that all existing vacancies are filled besides ensuring timely remuneration to all workers.

There should be "doubling of the union government’s contribution to the pay of these frontline workers", she said, adding that appointing an additional ASHA worker in villages with a population greater than 2,500 should also be done.

Doubling the number of Anganwadi workers to enable early childhood education in addition to existing nutrition and health initiatives was another demand raised by Sonia, who said, "strengthening, expanding, and supporting this workforce is an investment in India’s future".