THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In what could provide a welcome relief for the protesting ASHA workers, Union Health Minister J P Nadda said on Tuesday that the government has decided to raise their incentive. Hours after Nadda made the announcement in the Rajya Sabha, Union minister Suresh Gopi made a dramatic entry into the protest venue of the ASHAs in Thiruvananthapuram and said the Centre has done everything it was supposed to do for them.
During question hour, Nadda lauded the work done by ASHA workers across the country and said the Mission Steering Group, the highest policy-making and steering institution under the National Health Mission (NHM), has given permission for the hike in their incentive.
In response to another question on the Kerala government’s claim that the Centre is yet to pay pending dues, Nadda said the Union government has disbursed the full amount. He also accused the state of failing to provide the necessary utilisation certificate for the funds.
However, Kerala Health Minister Veena George challenged Nadda’s statement. “The Centre has not provided a single rupee from the cash grant for the last financial year, which was withheld under the pretext of co-branding. The utilisation certificate for this amount was sent to the Centre earlier,” she said.
Veena said the state had raised the issue of pending dues with Union ministers and officials on three occasions, and their responses confirmed the outstanding payments. “Out of the total due amount of Rs 826.02 crore, the Centre has released only Rs 189.15 crore for infrastructure maintenance and in-kind grants. The remaining Rs 636.88 crore, including the ASHA workers’ incentives, has not been allocated,” she said.
During his visit to the protest site, Gopi criticised the state ministers for spreading misinformation and misleading the public. “I have personally met Nadda. What he said in Parliament is the truth. We have provided what we are supposed to,” he said. Taking a jibe at Veena, he said her claim that the state has not received anything might be due to “her lack of understanding of the language”.
The protesting ASHA workers welcomed the Centre’s announcement of wage hike. Kerala Asha Health Workers’ Association president V K Sadanandan said the decision was a direct outcome of the ongoing protests. However, the agitation will continue until all demands are met, he added.