ASHA, as we call our accredited social health activist worker, provides basic primary care, motivate women to give birth in hospitals, bringing children to immunization clinics, encourage family planning in rural and urban areas, promote surgical sterilization, treat injuries with first aid, keep demographic records, deliver food and help improving village sanitation. She also conducts door to door surveys and educates people about basic necessary precautions. They work tirelessly to render essential health services in the district despite being vulnerable conditions, at times spend money from their own pockets to buy essential needs for the underprivileged. For all this they get a meager remuneration and often there is a delay in receiving even this honorarium of Rs 2000 which is definitely inadequate for managing their expenses leave about her family. India has over a million of asha workers who are discharging their duties and working tirelessly for the well being of the people.
They are underpaid, overworked even overlooked by the government and there has
been persistent institutional neglect towards their problems despite knowing
the fact that asha workers are a crucial interface between the community and
the health system. Increase in
honorarium and incentives with timely disbursement and adequate provision of social security cover specifically to
safeguard them and their dependents. We at PositiveDomain salute their
services and express our gratitude to these
frontline health warriors and their contribution as health activists to
the nation.
