Enhanced Remuneration for ASHA Workers

  • March 12, 2025
  • Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
  • Category: DPN Topics
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Enhanced Remuneration for ASHA Workers

Sub : Schemes

Sec: Health

Context

  • Union Health Minister J. P. Nadda announced in Rajya Sabha on March 11, 2025, that ASHA workers will receive enhanced remuneration.

About ASHA Workers:

  • Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) are community health workers under the National Health Mission (NHM).
  • They play a crucial role in reducing infant and maternal mortality through government outreach programs.

 Government’s Decision on Remuneration

  • The Mission Steering Group, the highest policy-making body under NHM, recommended increasing ASHA workers’ incentives.
  • The government will proceed with the recommendation.

Minister’s Acknowledgment of ASHA Workers’ Contribution

  • J. P. Nadda appreciated ASHA workers for their efforts at the grassroots level.
  • Their work has significantly contributed to reducing:
    • Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR)
    • Infant Mortality Rate (IMR)
    • Under-Five Mortality Rate

Political Demands

  • Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) MPs protested in Parliament, demanding:
    • An increase in ASHA workers’ honorarium to ₹21,000 per month.
    • Retirement benefits of ₹5 lakh.

Understanding ASHA ,Anganwadi and Auxillary Nurse Midwives Workers: Roles, Responsibilities, and Remuneration

Roles and Responsibilities:

  • Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs): Serve as community health volunteers, promoting maternal and child health, facilitating immunizations, and connecting communities to healthcare services.
  • Anganwadi Workers (AWWs): Operate at the village level, focusing on providing food supplements to young children, adolescent girls, and lactating women.
  • Auxiliary Nurse Midwives (ANMs): Based at health sub-centres or primary health centres, ANMs are trained in maternal and child health, including midwifery, and handle tasks like family planning, immunization, and infectious disease prevention.

Training:

  • ASHAs: Receive 3–4 weeks of training, with additional sessions periodically.
  • AWWs: Undergo similar training durations as ASHAs, focusing on nutrition and early childhood care.
  • ANMs: Complete 18 months of training, primarily centered on maternal and child health.

Remuneration:

  • ASHAs: Primarily receive performance-based incentives. For instance, they might earn ₹700–₹800 for facilitating institutional deliveries and ₹250 for ensuring a child’s complete immunization. Additionally, they now receive around ₹1,200 per month for routine tasks, independent of specific incentives.
  • AWWs: Considered volunteers but receive an “honorarium” ranging from ₹2,000 to ₹2,500 per month.
  • ANMs: Receive a government salary, reflecting their formal employment status and extended training.

Comparison:

  • ASHAs vs. AWWs: Both roles involve community health, but ASHAs focus more on healthcare facilitation and awareness, while AWWs concentrate on nutrition and early childhood development.
  • ASHAs vs. ANMs: ANMs have more extensive training and a broader scope of medical responsibilities, including clinical tasks, whereas ASHAs primarily engage in community mobilization and basic healthcare facilitation.
Enhanced Remuneration for ASHA Workers Schemes