“Salary Of ASHA Workers To Increase From Rs 6000 To Rs 10,000”, Says Puducherry CM N Rangasamy

Puducherry: Chief Minister N Rangasamy on Wednesday (March 29) announced in the Assembly that the salary of ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activist) workers would be increased from Rs 6,000 to Rs 10,000 monthly. ASHA workers function as health activists at the community level. ASHA (which means hope in Hindi) is a group of more than one million female volunteers in India.

CM Rangaswamy in the Assembly announced, The salary of ASHA workers working in Puducherry Health Department will be increased from Rs 6,000 to Rs 10,000.

Previously, on March 3, the Himachal Pradesh state cabinet in a meeting decided to engage 780 ASHA workers under the National Health Mission (NHM) on an incentive basis to provide affordable and reliable healthcare to the people, as they function as health activists at the community level.

The cabinet has also given its nod to the guidelines for engaging ASHA facilitators under the Community Process Programme in NHM.

Watch: ASHA Worker Rahamath From Bengaluru Ensures Better Healthcare For The Underprivileged

Earlier in January, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu addressed a delegation of the ASHA workers’ union in Shimla and assured them that their demands for framing a policy for them besides enhancing their honorarium will soon be addressed.

The Chief Minister while appreciating their role in the implementation of Government health schemes at the grassroots level, lauded them for their efforts of working wholeheartedly during the pandemic in the rural areas of the State.

He assured them that the government would prioritise all their genuine demands.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via the Banega Swachh India initiative, which is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – the LGBTQ population, indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In wake of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fight malnutrition, mental wellbeing, self care, science and health, adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity, which is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.