Asha workers across Karnataka, who are on the frontline of battling the pandemic, will boycott work from July 10 as the State government has failed to meet their demands. Asha workers (Accredited Social Health Activists) had on June 30 called for a statewide protest if the government failed to address their concerns about inadequate wages, technical issues that delay their remuneration, and the lack of protective equipment. They are demanding that the State government provide them a monthly wage of Rs 12,000 which would include the honorarium they currently receive and incentives.
“The present situation... It is as if the government has sent them into a battlefield without arms or ammunition. We therefore urge the government to provide adequate PPE suits to protect the health of Asha workers for their invaluable service in stalling the Covid-19 infection,” says D Nagalakshmi, state secretary of the Karnataka Rajya Samyuktha Asha Karyakarteyara Sangha.
Recently, the Union health ministry lauded the 42,000 Asha workers in Karnataka who surveyed nearly 1.29 crore households, collected data from containment zones on a daily basis, gathered information from families presenting Covid-19 and influenza symptoms and breathing difficulties. Asha workers have also been actively involved as members of local task forces and in screening teams in fever clinics, swab collection centres and at international and inter-state checkposts.