ASHAs in Ballari Demand ₹15,000 Monthly Pay, Flag Year-Long Delay in Incentives
Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) staged a protest in front of the Deputy Commissioner's office in Ballari on Thursday, demanding that the incentives and honorarium paid by the Central and State governments be combined and fixed at a minimum of ₹15,000 a month.
The demonstration was part of a State-wide 'Protest Week' being observed from October 5 to 11 under the leadership of the Karnataka State United ASHA Workers' Association, which is affiliated to the All India United Trade Union Centre (AIUTUC). The workers took out a march from Gandhi Bhavan to the Deputy Commissioner's office and held a demonstration there.
ASHAs are community health workers deployed under the National Health Mission. They serve as the first point of contact for health care in many villages, handling maternal and child health outreach, immunisation support and screening for tuberculosis and other conditions. Unlike regular government employees, they are engaged on a voluntary basis and are paid performance-linked incentives from both the Central and State governments rather than a fixed monthly salary — a structure their associations have long argued leaves them without income security.
Addressing the protesters, association State secretary D. Nagalakshmi said ASHAs had received an increase of only ₹1,500 in the past nine years and that their remuneration had not kept pace with the rising cost of living. She said the government should fulfil its earlier assurances of an increase in their pay.
She also alleged that ASHAs had been facing delays in the payment of incentives and honorarium for nearly a year, with pending incentive amounts yet to be released in several districts.
Ms. Nagalakshmi further said the workers were finding it difficult to carry out mobile-based work, as many had not been provided with mobile phones and were encountering technical, server and connectivity-related problems. The workers were not opposed to digitalisation, she said, but basic facilities should be provided before they were made to depend entirely on mobile applications for recording their work.
AIUTUC district president A. Devadas demanded that the incentives and honorarium paid by the Central and State governments be combined and fixed at ₹15,000 a month. He also sought immediate payment of all pending incentives and the timely release of monthly remuneration.
The protesters submitted a memorandum addressed to the Chief Minister and the Health Minister through the Deputy Commissioner. Their demands included the immediate release of pending incentive payments and the settlement of outstanding amounts under various components.
They also demanded that the authorities stop allegedly forcing ASHAs to undertake Nikshay app-related work if it was not assigned to them under National Health Mission guidelines. Nikshay is the government platform used for tuberculosis notification and patient tracking.
The workers sought measures to resolve problems related to the RCH portal, through which, they alleged, incentives were not being credited in proportion to the work performed. The RCH, or Reproductive and Child Health, portal is used to record service delivery and generate payments.
The association warned that the agitation would be intensified if the government failed to intervene and address the demands.
