Overworked, ASHA workers protest against extra online work
After thousands of workers were served a notice for refusal to work online, they decided to stage a probe, they claimed
Swarupa Mhase, an ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activists) worker was informed at midnight about a 14-year-old pregnant girl in Bamanpada, a tribal area, experiencing excruciating pain. She immediately left her 1-year-old daughter, reached Bamanpada, and took the girl to Vasind. “The night was long. I had to move from Vasind to Shahapur and from Shahapur to Thane, all on my own. Her drunk husband abused me verbally, but I could not leave the girl alone, after all she was my responsibility, wasn’t she?” she added.
Duty knocked the doors of another ASHA worker, Kavita Kante, at 2am, who lives in a village 20km from Murbad. “I got a call about someone going into labour in Ulhasnagar. I had to go, I had no option,” she said as she recalls how scary it was to travel alone at night.
Problems faced by these workers find echo in the voices of over 1,000 ASHA workers who gathered on the Shaktisthal ground in Thane on Friday afternoon to protest against overwork and underpayment and after thousands of workers were served a notice for denying to work online as proposed by the government.
Many workers alleged that though they had been promised to provide only three services for five days a week and two hours a day, there was no fixed schedule that was being followed, often forcing them to work for 12-16hrs a day with almost 82 services being added to the list..
ASHA workers are paid according to the work done, which they claim to be around ₹3000 – ₹4000 per month. Priyanka Kshirsagar, an ASHA worker, said, “Majority of us have only studied till 4th standard. The government is ready to give us a phone, but is only providing us with ₹100 per month for recharge. How are we expected to learn and manage within such a small amount?”
According to the workers, though their duty is only to get the patient admitted into a hospital, they are often forced to stay till the entire procedure of delivery is completed, which might take hours together, and they lose their payment if they fail to do so. From managing funds to transport, the workers are on their own, because on may occasions, they receive payments only after a year.
Mhase added that lack of transport facilities dedicated for workers and absolutely zero safety provided to the workers, regardless of the time, place or distance are among their major problems. “When I took the girl to Vasind, she could not deliver due to complications. So, I had to take her to Shahapur, where she gave birth to a baby weighing only 900gm. Her husband was completely drunk and her in-laws were not there. She had to be admitted immediately. I took the patient and the baby to Thane Civil Hospital at midnight because if I would have handed over the baby, it would have died. I was given no place to stay for the night though it was already 3am. I requested an ambulance driver to drop me home because my baby had to be fed.”
Government recently circulated a form for body parts donation after death, forcing the ASHA workers to fill it. “Once the workers start reading a newspaper at 1pm, they finish at 4pm. Not everyone here is educated. Government wants us to work extra online though we are not even paid for the work we already do. We want Diwali bonuses. We are not beggars but we demand what is ours,” said Ashwini Shirke, block facilitator, who also led the protestors.
Dr Gangadhar Parage, District Health Officer (DHO) assured the workers that their demands had been forwarded to the government for appropriate decision-making, and said, “The pay to the workers is according to their work, so there are workers who get ₹15,000 – ₹20,000 also. The medical officer is often directed to pay for their transport according to the budget decided. Additionally, government hospitals are directed to provide ASHA workers with a room in case it is late. We have told everyone to treat the workers respectfully. However, if there are complaints, we will definitely look into those.”
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