BENGALURU: The Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) workers have now completed their 10-day strike and are continuing their protest across the state. They have demanded a fixed salary of Rs 12,000 per month, and had given authorities time till July 15 to accept their pleas. They also threatened mass resignations if their demands aren’t met.“Though a 10-day notice was provided from June 30, nothing has been initiated from the government. Now, as the strike enters its eleventh day, and with no response from the government, the movement is only going to be more aggressive,” said D Nagalakshmi, State Secretary of ASHA Workers Union in Karnataka.
Somashekar Yadgiri, president of the Union, said that as promised by the state government, the Rs 3,000 one-time package has not yet been received. “There are no proper PPE kits. Three ASHA workers have died already and several are under home quarantine. This is pure negligence by the state government,” he said.Currently, they get a fixed incentive of Rs 4,000 from the state and Rs 2,000 from the Centre — Rs 6,000 in total.
Dr Prabhudeva Gowda, program officer-in-charge of ASHA workers said, “Around 60% of the workers are already earning performance-based incentives of Rs 4,000, while 20% are earning Rs 5,000, along with the fixed 6,000. Only 10 % of them have not taken up any additional work and hence earn the fixed incentive of Rs 6,000,” he told TNIE.