ITANAGAR, JUL 24: The All Arunachal Pradesh ASHA and Facilitators Workers’ Union (AAPASHA&FWU) under the aegis of Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) and others on Monday has staged a protest rally placing its charter of demands for redressing long felt grievances of ASHA and Asha Facilitator (AF) workers.
Several ASHA and AF workers from districts have joined the rally marching from Akashdeep to IG Park, Itanagar, holding banners, placards and chanting slogans of its charter of demands.
Speaking to reporters, state ASHA president Puri Logi Dui said, “we are compelled to stage a democratic movement as the authorities concern have been ignoring memorandums submitted repeatedly since 2019”.
The agitation is not against the government instead demanding for our rights such as honorarium to be given to ASHA and AF workers from the state government, he added
Accusing district officials of deducting money from annual wages of ASHA workers, he informed that some ASHA and AF workers are not paid with their full salaries which is Rs. 4000 regularly and timely.
He appealed to the district officials not to deduct any amount from the monthly wages while warning to lodge FIR with the state Special Investigation Team (SIT), if officials continue the deduction act
As per the government guidelines each ASHA workers must be paid annually instead wages are being paid after 2-3 months and even after six to twelve months gap, he informed
“We will go for tool down movement, if the state government fails to fulfill our demands after the protest rally today”, said Dui while appealing the Chief Minister Pema Khandu to address the grievances at earliest, as it is the state government’s responsibility to fulfill our grievances.
Dui highlighted the charter of demands of the union such as implementation of regular and timely payment of incentives for ASHA and supervision cost for AF, with monthly wages set at Rs. 18,000, while AF at Rs. 24,000 per month and provision of EPF/ESI benefits for all ASHA and AF workers annually and increase in ASHA top-up incentives from Rs 2,000 to Rs 8,000 per month through support from both the state and central governments.
Seeking fair compensation and acknowledgment for ASHA and AF workers valuable contributions to healthcare and community welfare, it demands recognition and incentives to all ASHA and AFS workers, who have been serving diligently without any assets.
Reservation of 50% of vacancies for ASHA and AF workers for contingency Medical Termination of Services (MTS) when vacancies arise on post creation, all ASHA and AF workers to be covered under the Minimum Wages Act, with monthly wages set at Rs 10,000 to Rs 18,000 and assurance that individuals who have completed courses such as ANM (Auxiliary Nurse Midwife) for ASHA and AF workers or other common people will be appointed to relevant positions in accordance with government norms were other demands of the union
