THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Amid the ongoing strike by ASHA workers, the National Health Mission (NHM) has issued an order to train 1,500 health volunteers at the ward level to ensure “effective delivery of health services.”
The order, signed by Vinay Goyal, state mission director of NHM, is seen as an effort to address service disruptions caused by the strike. A budget of Rs 11.7 lakh has been allocated for the two-day training programme, which will accommodate groups of 50 volunteers each.
Thiruvananthapuram and Kollam have been assigned to train the largest number of volunteers, with each district hosting five batches. The Kerala ASHA Health Workers Association has criticised the order, calling it an intimidation tactic ahead of the legislative assembly march on March 3. “The authorities vaguely said the order was to train health volunteers.
I do not think it is to replace the striking ASHA workers. The order did not mention any educational qualification. So it could be to supplement the work of ASHA,” said S Mini, vice-president of the Kerala ASHA Health Workers Association.