Ghugghus council pays Asha workers 10 months' honorarium dues; 12 months still pending

Asha workers in Ghugghus in Chandrapur have received relief from the municipal council. The workers, who took risks to deliver health services door to door during the difficult period of the Covid-19 pandemic, began a sit-in protest on November 4, 2026. The council then paid their overdue honorarium for 10 months. However, the honorarium for 12 months is still pending, and the sit-in continues over that demand.

At a press conference at the Ghugghus Municipal Council on Thursday, November 12, 2026, council Vice President Raju Reddy said the 10 months of overdue honorarium had been paid on the initiative of the council president, the vice president and the chief officer.

Reddy said it was deeply unfortunate that the honorarium of Asha workers, who served people without regard for their own lives in the most frightening phase of the pandemic, had been delayed for years. He said the remaining 12 months of honorarium should be released immediately by the Maharashtra government, which is led by the BJP-headed Mahayuti alliance.

Reddy questioned the local BJP leaders. He said the BJP and the Mahayuti are in power in the state, yet local BJP leaders are questioning Congress office-bearers in the Ghugghus Municipal Council. In his view, this is beyond comprehension.

Reddy said: "The responsibility for paying the honorarium of Asha workers lies with the state government and the district health department. When the funds are to come from the government, for how long and from where will the municipal council pay from its own funds? Instead of doing politics in the name of the agitation, BJP leaders should try to get the remaining overdue honorarium of the Asha workers from their own government."

He also said the council administration stands firmly with the Asha workers and that the remaining honorarium will be paid immediately once funds are received from the government.

Criticising the government, Reddy said a government that gave the slogan "Achhe Din" should not withhold the due of women who worked as a shield for society in a time of crisis. In his view, the Asha workers carried out their duty in extremely difficult conditions, so receiving full payment for their labour is their right. Reddy demanded that the state government release funds immediately and pay the remaining 12 months of honorarium.

Roshan Parshuram Pachare also questioned the functioning of the council administration at the press conference. He said no monthly or emergency meetings have been held for the past one and a half to two months. Even so, he said, the chief officer used the powers of the post to have 10 months of honorarium deposited promptly in the Asha workers' accounts.

Pachare demanded that the overdue salaries, payments and other stalled work of the council's permanent and temporary employees be cleared in the same way. He asked why, if the administration can act quickly on the Asha workers' honorarium, officials do not show similar speed on the pending issues of permanent and temporary staff.

Works committee chairman Roshan Pachare, Dilip Pittalwar, Pallavi Ghule, Sunita Pendor, Alim Sheikh, Sudhakar Chikankar and Roshan Dantalwar, among others, were present at the press conference.