Long walk for justice

Around 3,500 Asha workers on padayatra to Hyderabad

Hyderabad: The Asha (Accredited Social Health Activist) workers who have been agitating for over 100 days for hike in their honorarium have been left high and dry by the Telangana government. Many of the children of the workers have even given up education and have turned into daily wage workers. Disappointed over the negligence by the government, they have now launched a long march to justice.

More than 3500 workers from various districts took up a padayatra to Hyderabad. But the government appears to be hell bent in preventing them from reaching Hyderabad. On Saturday one such team of Asha workers who had left Zaheerabad three days ago were stopped at Peddapur in Medak distirct by the police. In the jostling that took place between the workers and the police one worker was injured. Similarly, another group from Nizamabad was also stopped en-route and were arrested.

When The Hans India contacted some of the Asha workers, their pathetic condition came to light. A 45-year-old Asha worker B Sarojini from Karimnagar district said ever since the Asha system came into existence child mortality rate had come down but the workers continue to be in penury. She said she has given up hope to provide proper education to her two adolescent daughters and forced them to be daily wage workers under Employment Guarantee Scheme as she could not afford to buy books and pay fee with her meager earnings. There has been no increase in the wages for the last 10 years, she said.

Another worker B Sujata from Miryalaguda in Nalgonda district is struggling even to get a square meal a day for her two children.

Botla Chakrapani, the honorary president of Telangana Voluntary and Community Health Workers Union Warangal said: “The ongoing agitation indicates the insensitiveness of the State government towards the Asha workers. What these people are demanding was fixation of minimum salary of Rs 15,000 per month besides job security, TA, DA and coverage under life and health insurance schemes.”

The Asha workers from Adilabad district chose to demonstrate their protest by travelling through the woods and ghats. With the State capital Hyderabad being 300 km from the district headquarters, they are likely to reach Hyderabad by December 15. They have not given up their march though many of them suffered from dehydration according to K Vijaya of Rebbenapalli village.

Sarojini of Khammam district said “I dreamt of giving higher education to my two daughters when I joined as a worker in 2005. The government officials promised me good remuneration. But even after a decade I am drawing a meager Rs 500 as honorarium“. The workers are getting honorarium on case-by– case institutional deliveries. Sometimes, they get only Rs 150, she said.

Another worker Sujata said Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao promised during elections that the honorarium would be raised to Rs 5000 a month but the government was not showing any interest now.

CM Madhavi from Hayat Nagar in Ranga Reddy district said her husband was bed ridden due to physical ailment and it has become impossible to get any treatment for him. She said the workers are made to take up all women and child health related campaigns including taking care of pregnant women, vaccinations and supply of nutritious food to infants.” During performing their jobs, many asha workers meet with accidents and some had even lost their lives, she said

State Asha workers union President P Jayalaxmi said that the main demands put before the government was to bring them under the organised workers category providing minimum wages, health and accidental insurance and provident fund. At present, the Centre was only paying honorarium to the workers. State government was not giving matching grant like Karnataka , Rajasthan and Kerala governments where the workers are paid Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,000 fixed salary every month, CITU general secretary (TS committee) M Saibabu said.