Accredited Social Health Activist, Meaning, Functions, Salary

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ASHA workers have been on an indefinite stir in front of the Kerala government secretariat over the last several days demanding an increase of their monthly remuneration to Rs 21,000, retirement benefit of Rs 5 lakh and other basic benefits.

ASHA is a trained female community health activist.
The ASHA program was conceived and funded by the Indian National Rural Health Mission (NHRM) in an effort to promote public health awareness amongst local, rural populations, and increase the utilization and accountability of existing health services.
Selected from the community itself and accountable to it, the ASHA will be trained to work as an interface between the community and the public health system.
The ASHA scheme is presently in place in all States/UTs (except Goa).
The states are mandated to employ at least one ASHA worker per every 1000 people.
They receive basic public health training and are equipped with a standard drug kit, which allows them to deliver first-contact healthcare.
They are chosen through a rigorous process of selection involving various community groups, self-help groups, Anganwadi Institutions, Block Nodal officer, District Nodal officer, the village Health Committee, and the Gram Sabha.

Act as a care provider at the community level.
Facilitating access to healthcare, medicine, and sanitation services.
Raising the level of awareness of health issues among the marginalised sections within the community.
Advocate for female health and hygiene standards.
Advocate for a health-conscious behaviour and approach to livelihood.

In rural areas, ASHA must primarily be a woman resident of the village married/widowed/divorced, preferably in the age group of 25 to 45 years and literate, preferably qualified up to 10th standard (formal education up to Class 8).
In urban areas, ASHA must be a woman resident of the “slum/vulnerable clusters” and belong to that particular vulnerable group which have been identified by the City/District Health Society for selection of ASHA and must have good communication and leadership skills.
The States have been given the flexibility to relax the population norms as well as the educational qualifications on a case-to-case basis, depending on the local conditions as far as her recruitment is concerned.

An ASHA worker is primarily an “honorary volunteer” but is compensated for her time in specific situations (such as training attendance, monthly reviews, and other meetings).
On average, an ASHA worker’s monthly income varies from Rs 2,000 per month to Rs 7,000 per month, depending on the state.
In addition, she is eligible for incentives offered under various national health programmes.
She would also have income from the social marketing of certain healthcare products like condoms, contraceptive pills, sanitary napkins, etc.
Her work should be so designed that it is done without impinging on her main livelihood and adequate monetary compensation for the time she spends on these tasks- through performance based payments should be provided.

Q1. When was ASHA launched in India?

Ans. ASHA Programme was launched in 2005-06 at grass root level under the umbrella of all health Programme of National Health Mission, a central Government Scheme.

Q2. What are the activities of ASHA?

Ans. An ASHA is a facilitator, that is, she helps the village community to access health services provided by the government.

Q3. How many ASHAs are there in India?

Ans. The country currently has 9.83 Lakh ASHAs in position against the target of 10.35 Lakh.

Source: DH

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