Mumbai ASHA workers get no Diwali bonus; CITU-linked union threatens 'beg for alms' protest at BMC

ASHA workers who deliver health services to neighbourhoods under the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC) health department have not been announced a Diwali bonus this year either. The CITU-affiliated ASHA union has expressed strong displeasure over this. It has demanded that ASHA workers under the National Health Mission (NHM) and those of the BMC be given a decent bonus immediately. The union has warned that if this does not happen, it will hold a 'beg for alms' protest in front of the BMC on the eve of Diwali.

According to the union, the demand for a Diwali bonus for ASHA workers has been going on for several years, and a protest is held for it every year. This time, a protest was held at Azad Maidan on October 26, yet no bonus was announced. The union says this has caused resentment among ASHA workers.

The union also listed the position in other municipal corporations. According to the information it provided, the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation has announced a bonus of Rs 45,000 in general, and ASHA workers are included in it. The Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation has agreed to give ASHA workers a bonus of Rs 6,000. The union claims that ASHA workers in the Thane, Mira-Bhayandar and Vasai-Virar municipal corporations also receive a Diwali bonus every year.

The organisation alleges that the BMC is counted among the country's rich municipal corporations, yet the ASHA workers here are being kept away from a bonus.

The union reminded that ASHA workers continuously go door to door to deliver health services to people. During the Covid-19 pandemic too, they worked at the risk of their lives. The organisation feels they are not getting fair financial benefit for their work.

The union says the work of ASHA workers and Community Health Volunteers (CHVs) is similar. It has raised the issue of the Rs 16,000 bonus announced for CHVs. The union alleges that CHVs are getting a bonus while ASHA workers have been left out, which it calls injustice and discrimination.

The union has also claimed that ASHA workers do not receive their honorarium regularly either. According to the organisation, in such circumstances it becomes financially difficult to celebrate a festival like Diwali. It has therefore demanded that the BMC immediately announce a decent bonus for ASHA workers of both the NHM and the BMC.

The CITU-affiliated ASHA union has warned that if the municipal corporation does not decide soon, a 'beg for alms' protest will be held in front of the corporation right at Diwali time.