The Finance Ministry has shot down its Health counterpart’s proposal for assured monthly wages of Rs 1,000 to the 8.5 lakh Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) workers countrywide.
The Health Ministry’s proposal was being seen as a move keeping the Assembly polls in many States this year and the lok Sabha elections in 2014 in mind.
The proposal is likely to cost the exchequer over Rs 1,000 crore per year. In other words, in the next five years, the Government will have to dole out over Rs 5,000 crore for paying the salary of the ASHA workers, who work in a host of flagship schemes of the Health Ministry.
“The proposal to give a daily wage to them was taken up at a recent meeting of the Empowered Finance Committee (EFC) for its approval. But the Finance Ministry has refused to give it go-ahead in view of lack of funds,” said sources in the Ministry.
They said that the Finance Ministry has cited shortage of fund and that it might result in complacency among the women workers who are currently being paid the monthly incentive based on the incentive package and population coverage of each State.
However, the Ministry seems to be determined to push the scheme before the lok Sabha polls to reap electoral benefits. Sources said that it is mulling to by-pass the EFC route and instead looking towards the highest decision-making body, the Mission Steering Group on NRHM for its clearance.
ASHA, being an honorary volunteer and considered a key link in the Government’s flagship health programmes such as NRHM, does not receive any salary or honorarium.
ASHA workers across the country, who are getting performance-based incentives for promoting universal immunisation, referral and escort services for reproductive and child health and other healthcare programmes, have been demanding fixed monthly wages to ensure their financial security.
Their contention is that the Government is extracting unpaid labour from them instead of giving them due recognition as health workers.
The sources said that to ensure that only genuine ASHA workers get the benefit, the Ministry has proposed fixing some incentive amount they need to earn to become eligible for the Rs 1,000 remuneration. This fixed wage will be in addition to the incentives they earn from various tasks given to them.
Usually, an ASHA worker earns from Rs 700 to Rs 1,000 a month, depending on the areas and tasks she performs that include advising newly married couples for their special needs, providing escort services to and guiding pregnant women for availing of institutional facilities for anti-natal, natal and post-natal needs, counselling on nutrition, pregnancy, breast-feeding, immunisation and family planning.
They are also utilised for mobilising parents for child survival interventions, promoting basic sanitisation, making provision for non-clinical spacing contraceptives and surveillance of communicable diseases such as kala-azar.