{"id":45347,"date":"2025-03-13T02:21:14","date_gmt":"2025-03-12T20:51:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=45347"},"modified":"2025-05-06T19:25:13","modified_gmt":"2025-05-06T13:55:13","slug":"kerala-asha-protests-demand-for-higher-pay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/kerala-asha-protests-demand-for-higher-pay\/","title":{"rendered":"Kerala ASHA Protests: Demand for Higher Pay and Benefits Explained"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>What\u2019s in Today\u2019s Article?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>ASHA Workers Protests Kerala Latest News<\/li>\n<li>Role of ASHAs in Rural Healthcare<\/li>\n<li>Earnings of ASHAs<\/li>\n<li>ASHA Honorariums: Kerala vs Other States<\/li>\n<li>ASHA Workers Protests Kerala FAQs<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>ASHA Workers Protests Kerala Latest News<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Opposition MPs from Kerala protested in Parliament, demanding higher honorariums and retirement benefits for ASHA workers. The leaders highlighted that ASHAs earn only \u20b9233 per day, often irregularly.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>In response, Health Minister J P Nadda stated that the NHM Steering Group had approved increased incentives, which would be implemented soon.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Role of ASHAs in Rural Healthcare<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>ASHA stands for\u00a0<strong>A<\/strong>ccredited <strong>S<\/strong>ocial <strong>H<\/strong>ealth <strong>A<\/strong>ctivist.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>ASHAs are community health workers who are part of India&#8217;s National Rural Health Mission (NRHM).\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) employs them.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Launch\u00a0of ASHAs<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>The National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) launched ASHAs in 2005 as community health functionaries working alongside Anganwadi workers under the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS).\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>In 2013, NRHM and the National Urban Health Mission were merged into the National Health Mission (NHM).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Responsibilities of ASHAs<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Serve as the first point of contact for marginalized communities, particularly women and children, for healthcare needs.<\/li>\n<li>Promote awareness of good health practices and assist in accessing public health services.<\/li>\n<li>Support maternal and childcare, immunization drives, family planning, and disease prevention programs.<\/li>\n<li>Conduct periodic home visits and maintain health records.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Selection Criteria<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Women aged 25-45, preferably married, widowed, or divorced.<\/li>\n<li>Minimum education qualification of Class 10.<\/li>\n<li>Selection involves gram panchayats, Anganwadi institutions, community groups, and self-help groups.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Coverage and Workforce<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>One ASHA is assigned per 1,000 people.<\/li>\n<li>As of 2022-23, India had 9.2 lakh rural ASHAs and approximately 79,900 urban ASHAs.<\/li>\n<li>The highest number of ASHAs are in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, and Madhya Pradesh.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Earnings of ASHAs<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Volunteer Status and Payment Structure<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Initially, ASHAs were considered honorary volunteers whose work was designed not to interfere with their livelihood.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>However, many now work full-time as they serve as the first point of contact for marginalized households.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Despite this, the NHM still classifies them as volunteers, making them ineligible for fixed salaries beyond task-based incentives.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Monthly Incentives and Honorarium<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>ASHAs receive a <strong>monthly incentive of \u20b93,000<\/strong>, shared between the Centre and the state.<\/li>\n<li>Payment is tied to completing specific tasks and is often not fully disbursed.<\/li>\n<li>Kerala ASHAs get <strong>\u20b9500 for the Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram<\/strong> (early childcare scheme), but its applicability is limited in areas with low childbirth rates.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>State-Specific Honorarium and Task-Based Earnings<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>In <strong>Kerala, ASHAs receive a monthly honorarium of \u20b97,000<\/strong>, funded by the state.<\/li>\n<li>Payment depends on completing <strong>10 tasks<\/strong>, such as running clinics and maintaining ward reports, each valued at \u20b9700.<\/li>\n<li>Additional <strong>task-based incentives vary<\/strong> depending on different national health schemes and their applicability in specific areas.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>ASHA Honorariums: Kerala vs Other States<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Kerala Health Minister Veena George stated that the state offers the highest honorarium to ASHAs.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>However, some states provide higher payments and additional benefits.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Sikkim:<\/strong> Paying <strong>\u20b910,000<\/strong> per month since October 2022.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Andhra Pradesh:<\/strong> Increased honorarium to <strong>\u20b910,000<\/strong> and introduced <strong>\u20b915 lakh gratuity<\/strong> for ASHAs completing <strong>30 years of service<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Karnataka:<\/strong> Raised honorarium from <strong>\u20b95,000 to \u20b910,000<\/strong> (effective April) following an ASHA workers\u2019 strike demanding <strong>\u20b915,000<\/strong> as a fixed monthly honorarium.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>ASHA Workers Protests Kerala FAQs<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Q1.<\/strong> Why are ASHA workers protesting in Kerala?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ans.<\/strong> ASHA workers demand higher honorariums, regular payments, and retirement benefits due to their crucial role in healthcare.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q2. <\/strong>What is the current honorarium for ASHA workers in Kerala?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ans. <\/strong>Kerala ASHAs receive \u20b97,000 per month, but it depends on completing 10 specific tasks.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q3. <\/strong>How does Kerala compare to other states in ASHA honorariums?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ans. <\/strong>Sikkim, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka offer higher honorariums, with Andhra also providing a \u20b915 lakh gratuity.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q4. <\/strong>What role do ASHA workers play in healthcare?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ans. <\/strong>ASHAs assist in maternal care, immunization, disease prevention, and promoting public health awareness in rural areas.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q5. <\/strong>Why aren&#8217;t ASHAs considered regular employees?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ans. <\/strong>NHM classifies ASHAs as volunteers, limiting them to task-based incentives rather than fixed salaries.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/india\/asha-workers-unsung-heroes-keralas-cong-mps-slam-blame-game-between-centre-state-9879757\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">IE<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/nhm.gov.in\/index1.php?lang=1&amp;level=1&amp;sublinkid=150&amp;lid=226\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">NHM<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Kerala ASHA workers demand increased honorariums and benefits. Learn about their roles, earnings, and how other states compare.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":45348,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-45347","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45347","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45347"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45347\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45348"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45347"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45347"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45347"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}