India's frontline health workers fight for better pay and recognition

Thousands of frontline healthcare workers in southern India's Kerala state, who have been holding demonstrations for the past month seeking better pay and recognition, have vowed to continue their protest.

Kerala's 26,225 female workers, known as Accredited Social Health Activists or Ashas (Hindi for hope), have been holding protests near the state government headquarters in the capital city of Thiruvananthapuram.

The protesters, who provide crucial medical support in the country's rural areas, say they plan to "lay siege" to the state secretariat in the coming week, if authorities continue to ignore their demands.

The Ashas, who number more than a million across the country, are fighting for better salaries and for official "worker" status.

The women are currently categorised as volunteers, which means they are not guaranteed any benefits from the government, despite playing a crucial role in delivering healthcare in rural and underserved areas.

In a country where millions of Indians, especially in the remote areas, do not have access to quality healthcare, the Asha workers have played a vital role over the years.

Their job involves going door-to-door to raise awareness about nutrition, sanitation, immunisation and providing neonatal and antenatal care, among other things.

They played a crucial role during the Covid pandemic, especially in Kerala which was first to report a Covid case, and have been credited for successfully containing outbreaks of Zika and Nipah viruses.

Dr Joe Thomas, a Melbourne-based public health policy analyst, believes India should change its perception of these community health workers whose contribution to primary health is universally recognised.

These workers are doing the job of midwives in Kerala after the state's health authorities froze recruitment of midwives, he told the BBC. "The maternity care support has slowly been shifted to Ashas."

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Source: BBC News, 13 March 2025