The contributions of ASHA workers over the past two decades have significantly reduced India’s neonatal and infant mortality rates, said Justice V. Ramasubramanian, Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), on Friday.
Speaking at a hybrid-mode meeting of the NHRC’s core group on women, themed “Empowering Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs)” in New Delhi, Justice Ramasubramanian highlighted the pivotal role ASHA workers have played in improving India’s healthcare sector.
He emphasized that their work demonstrates how individuals, even without formal education, can be effectively trained to become skilled healthcare professionals.
Justice Ramasubramanian called for a collaborative effort between the central and state governments to address the welfare of ASHAs, stressing the need for a concrete policy to improve their working conditions and living standards. He pointed out the need to bridge the gap between the increasing number of educated individuals and the decreasing number of skilled workers through the ASHA scheme.
Justice (Dr.) Bidyut Ranjan Sarangi, NHRC member, acknowledged the essential role of ASHAs as first responders to healthcare-related emergencies, particularly among pregnant women and children in rural areas. He urged that their activism be recognized with adequate incentives, compensation, and security to ensure their right to a life of dignity.
Secretary General of NHRC, Bharat Lal, outlined the themes of the three technical sessions held during the meeting. These focused on the evolving challenges faced by ASHAs, the role of the government in protecting their rights, and ensuring the right to work with dignity. He highlighted that while the government has introduced various women empowerment schemes, issues related to ASHAs, such as low honorariums, excessive workloads, and insufficient resources, remain unresolved.
Other speakers included Saurabh Jain, Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare; Pallavi Agarwal, Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Women & Child Development; Dr. Shweta Khandelwal, Senior Advisor at Jhpiego India; and Ruth Manorama, President of the National Alliance of Women (NAWO).
The meeting discussed several key recommendations for improving the working conditions of ASHAs, such as granting them formal worker status with fixed monthly wages, social security, health insurance, and maternity benefits. Other suggestions included standardizing honorariums across states, replacing incentive-based payments with a fixed salary and performance-based benefits, providing personal protective equipment (PPE) and transportation allowances, and enforcing strict policies to protect ASHAs from harassment and violence.
The meeting proposed utilising unspent funds from the Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Cess Act and health sector grants to strengthen early childhood care and healthcare workers’ training. Establishing state-funded creches, developing career pathways for ASHAs, and fostering public-private partnerships to create decent job opportunities for ASHAs were also discussed.
