ASHA workers across country to go on strike on Monday

By Express News Service

BENGALURU: ASHA workers from across the country will go on a strike on Monday in protest against the government for not providing them with essential safety kits during the pandemic, and paying them minimum renumeration despite being frontline workers.

The All-India Committee of Scheme Workers’ Federation of India (SWFI) said that ASHA workers have not been provided with essential PPE kits to safeguard their own lives and many have become infected, with some even succumbing to the virus.

“Even the pittance of a compensation declared by government for the next of kin of ASHA workers remains just on paper. The packages declared by various governments have been denied to them,” they said.

They are demanding that the government release Rs 5,000 as Covid relief package for all ASHA workers and other frontline warriors across the country, provide a minimum of Rs 25,000 as medical compensation, ensure adequate supply of masks, hand sanitizers, gloves and other safety equipment and release Rs 50 lakh insurance compensation for ASHA workers who succumbed during the Covid-9 pandemic’s first wave.