After 38-day delay, high level panel formed to study ASHA workers’ issues
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Thiruvananthapuram: Thirty-eight days after Health Minister Veena George's announcement, the state government has formed a high-level committee to examine the concerns raised by ASHA workers.
The five-member committee will be headed by Haritha V Kumar, Director of the Women and Child Development Department. Additional Secretary of the Health Department, R Subhash, will act as the convenor.
Two Additional Secretaries from the Finance and Labour Departments will also be nominated as members. K M Veena, Head of Social Development at the National Health Mission is the fifth member, TNIE reported.
After consulting various ASHA workers' trade unions, the panel has been asked to study the issues and submit recommendations in three months.
ASHA workers, under the leadership of the Kerala ASHA Health Workers Association (KAHWA), have been protesting since February. Their primary demands include increase of monthly honorarium to ₹21,000 and a retirement benefit of ₹5 lakh.