KOLKATA: Hundreds of ASHA volunteers on Friday took to the streets in Kolkata, dissatisfied with the Rs 1,000 hike in their honorarium announced in the West Bengal interim budget.
The protesting Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) voluneers staged an impromptu sit-in outside the Swasthya Bhavan. the state's health department headquarters in Salt Lake, demanding an honorarium of at least Rs 15,000 per month.
The Bidhannagar Police has put up barricades and deployed a large number of personnel on the streets leading to the Swasthya Bhavan, officials said.
An ASHA volunteer, who was part of the demonstration, said, "What will only Rs 1,000 hike mean for us when we are paid a paltry sum? We demand a minimum Rs 15,000 per month remuneration."
Another volunteer said that a 17-member delegation is scheduled to meet the state's health secretary and reiterate their demands.
Last month, the female community health volunteers had blocked key thoroughfares in Kolkata's Esplanade and Salt Lake, after police stopped their march to the health department headquarters.
The ASHA volunteers workers had also staged staged protests at Swasthya Bhavan on January 8 and January 12, seeking a meeting with senior health officials over their long-pending demand for a fixed monthly salary instead of performance-linked allowances.
Their demands also include to not be engaged in work other than mother and child support.
The Mamata Banerjee government on Thursday announced a hike of Rs 1,000 in the ASHA workers' honorarium, which they claimed now stood at Rs 6,250 per month.
The state government had also declared a one-time payment of Rs 5 lakh in case of death in harness and maternity leave for ASHA volunteers.