PM unveils bonanza for health workers

Aditi Tandon

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 11

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday unveiled a bonanza for India’s frontline health workers announcing handsome hikes in their allowances and honorariums.

Accredited Social Health Workers (ASHAs) who are the backbone of the National Health Mission and deliver reproductive health and vaccination services to remote corners of the country will have their routine financial incentive of Rs1,000 doubled to Rs2,000.

Anganwari workers who work in the Women and Child Development Ministry’s Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) for supplementary nutrition of children up to six years will get Rs4,500 a month instead of the previous Rs3,000. Those anganwari workers who have the support of one anganwari helper will see a raise in monthly allowances from Rs2,200 to Rs3,500 and anganwari helpers will get Rs2,250 instead of the previous Rs1,500.

The financial raises the PM announced during his interaction with health workers through video conferencing will roll out from the next month. The PM said: “Your Diwali this year will be brighter because you will get enhanced salaries from next month.”

The announcement will benefit as many as 35 lakh frontline health workers engaged in different programmes and was made as part of the National Nutrition Month being observed right now. There are around 10 lakh ASHAs in India, around 13.50 lakh anganwari workers and around 10 lakh anganwari helpers.

The PM has also assured extension of free insurance covers to all government health workers under the ongoing insurance schemes, including Jeevan Jyoti and Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana. All the announcements the PM made pertain to the Central share in the financial emoluments ASHAs, AWWs and helpers get. The states are free to match these raises.

Describing the ASHAs and AWWs as the backbone of India’s health delivery systems, the PM heard their narrations and especially hailed Jharkhand-based health worker Manita Devi who saved the life of a newborn who had been considered dead by its family. “The way Manita Devi used neonatal home-based care training to save a child is commendable,” the PM said.

The announcement comes months ahead of the 2019 elections and is expected to boost the morale of workers who are expected to deliver ambitious targets under India’s National Nutrition Mission. The target under the Rs9,000 crore mission approved by the Cabinet last December is to reduce the rate of child malnutrition by two per cent every year.

India has a huge burden of child under nutrition, which is measured in three terms – stunting (low height for weight), wasting (low weight for height) and underweight (low birth weight). As many as 38.4% of under-five children are stunted as per the latest survey. The government hopes to reduce it to 25% by 2022.