During COVID -19 India reflected not only its poor health care system but also its negligence towards the protection of its front line warriors. Workers and Volunteers will work for the betterment of society. So their protection must be prioritized.
ASHA workers are constantly putting their lives at risk while engaging in ground-level work like a door to door surveys, screening of Coronavirus suspects inside the containment zones, due to the lack of protection provided to them by the government.
On 7th of August, 6 lakh ASHA workers went on strike after getting fed up their demands falling in a deaf ear. According to a joint statement by 10 central trade unions, ASHAs workers, mid day meal National Health Mission and anganwaris’ staff would go on strike for two days.
“These workers have been requesting the administration to pull back the recommendations for the privatization of essential administrations including health ( including medical clinics ), nourishment ( including ICDS and MDMS ) and education, make the midway supported plans like ICDS, NHM and MDMS changeless with sufficient spending designation and give them least wages of Rs 21000 every month and annuity of Rs 10,000 every month other than giving them perks of ESI and EPF, ” Economic Times revealed.
“India’s ASHAs have consistently gone about as a band-aid in the nation’s permeable medicinal services framework, conveying help from maternal wellbeing to vaccination in its immense country hinterland,” Bloomberg revealed.
The ASHAs plot was made in 2005 as a component of the National Rural Health Mission. Since the start of the COVID- 9 pandemics, there have been inconsistent fights and strikes by them.
In July, around 40,000 ASHAs took to the streets in Karnataka to request better security and an increase in fixed pay to Rs 12,000. There are around 1 million ASHA workers in the nation and association pioneers revealed to Bloomberg they hoped for more to join the strike.
Several workers have died due to Covid-19 during this pandemic and even their salaries are not paid for months together, the unions said. They urged the respective authorities to clear all pending dues and allowances etc. of all scheme workers immediately.
A great system is built by those who are working for it and providing protection to them is the responsibility of the authority otherwise it will not only lead to corruption but also give birth to another chaos in a country which is struggling to save its economy, public health and democracy as well.
Written By Chanderveer Singh
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