ASHA Workers Stage Sit-in Outside Bengal Health HQ Over Low Pay Hike

Hundreds of ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activist) volunteers staged a sit-in outside the Swasthya Bhavan, the West Bengal health department headquarters in Salt Lake, on Friday, protesting a meager Rs 1,000 hike in their honorarium. The workers are demanding a fixed monthly remuneration of at least Rs 15,000 to reflect their ongoing contributions to community healthcare.

The Bidhannagar Police deployed barricades and a strong personnel presence near the health department as the volunteers gathered. Protesters argued that the nominal increase, raising their pay to Rs 6,250 per month, falls far short of meeting their basic needs given their workload and responsibilities in maternal and child health care.

A 17-member delegation of ASHA workers is scheduled to meet the state health secretary to formally present their demands. Volunteers have also reiterated their request to be restricted to core responsibilities in mother and child support, rather than being assigned unrelated tasks that stretch their already demanding schedules.

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This protest follows similar demonstrations last month, when volunteers blocked major thoroughfares in Kolkata’s Esplanade and Salt Lake to press for a fixed salary instead of performance-based allowances. Previous protests on January 8 and January 12 also sought direct meetings with senior health officials over long-standing pay and workload grievances.

The Mamata Banerjee government, while raising the honorarium by Rs 1,000, had also announced a one-time death benefit of Rs 5 lakh and maternity leave provisions for ASHA workers. Despite these measures, volunteers insist that a substantial monthly pay hike is essential to recognize the critical role they play in India’s primary healthcare system.

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