SHILLONG: The Joint Action Committee of the ASHA Facilitators and ASHA Workers Union will go on a three-day strike from January 19 to 21 to protest the alleged failure of the state government to meet their demands.
Around 4000 ASHA workers and facilitators are likely to observe the three-day strike.
The union had urged the government to hike the daily allowance of ASHA workers involved in distributing polio drops to Rs 150 per head besides providing a fixed honorarium to them.
Talking to newsmen here on Wednesday, union president Fairson Kharjana said that currently the ASHA workers get an allowance of Rs 900 per booth for three days.
“There are four to six ASHA workers in one booth …If Rs 900 is divided among them for three days’ work they would get a daily allowance of only Rs 50 per day,” he said.
He also lamented that those involved in giving daily Direct Observation Treatment dosage to those suffering from TB have to wait for a prolonged period to get their payments.
The general secretary of the union, Sony Kharjana alleged that payment of allowances to the ASHA workers were not uniform in the State.
The ASHA workers, while demanding a fixed honorarium complained that their absence from the PHCs/CHC preview meetings among others resulted in deduction of their honorariums.
It may be mentioned that the Meghalaya ASHA Workers Union had on March 8, 2013 wrote to the Mission Director, National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) and subsequently wrote two more letters dated April 4, 2011 and November 27, 2014 to the State Chief Secretary and State Health Minister respectively.
