Farmers Movement Archive

Citu protests against ‘insufficient compensation’ to Asha workers

Nagpur: Centre of Indian Trade Unions (Citu) members took out a padyatra from Ramtek to Nagpur to protest against Centre’s farm laws as well as “insufficient compensation” for state’s Asha workers. Accredited Social Health Activists (Asha) play a key role in the last-mile delivery of social health schemes, especially in rural or urban low incomes neighborhoods. After reaching Nagpur, the members joined a larger group at Samvidhan Square, where Citu leaders talked about both the central and state issues. Rajendra Sathe, district president of Citu’s Asha Gatpravartak Karmachari Union said, “For a long time, Asha workers have been fighting for their rights but the state government does not seem keen on fulfilling their demands. While there are multiple issues related to them, giving proper compensation to Asha workers is the most important one. These women are the real frontline workers and have played a crucial role in monitoring Covid-19 patients who are recovering at home.” Jyoti Undersahate, an Asha worker and also city head of the same union, said, “From August 17, we are starting a “mobile waapis karo” (return the mobile) agitation. We will return the mobiles in which the government has given us an app to track delivery of health services. The app is in English and many of our members aren’t able to understand it, due to which mistakes happen. Since we are in Maharashtra, this app must be in Marathi.”Citu leaders said they included the farmers issue in today's protest to show their support for the agitation being spearheaded by farmers in the North. Asha workers have been demanding a minimum monthly remuneration of Rs18,000 from the currently under Rs10,000 they get. Their union has also demanded that government reimburse their additional expenses like mobile bill, stationery charges as they have multiple paperwork to handle. Sathe said, “Also our workers must be kept away from any form of Covid-19 testing work.”

The Times of India

2021-08-10

Nagpur