The current narrative:A portion of Kerala’s 26,125 Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) have been agitating day and night on the streets for more than two months, calling for improved compensation and retirement benefits. Even though the agitation received a lot of attention and was brought up in Parliament, the problems the ASHAs brought up have not been addressed.
In Kerala, ASHAs receive a fixed incentive of ₹3,000 in addition to a monthly stipend of ₹7,000. They also receive extra incentives based on the region in which they operate (tribal belt, for instance). They must meet specific work-related requirements in order to get the full honorarium and bonuses. While the incentives are split 60/40 between the State and the Center, the State pays the honorarium.
While the Union government has consistently provided ASHAs with incentives for a range of services from the scheme’s inception, the State government asserts that Kerala gives one of the highest honoraria to ASHAs. The ASHAs disputed Kerala Health Minister Veena George’s claim that nearly all of the State’s ASHAs receive between ₹10,000 and ₹13,000 per month, pointing out that in practice, they receive significantly less due to honorarium-related factors.
