Vijayawada Municipal Corporation’s Asha workers losing hope

VIJAYAWADA: The city stands on the verge of a potential health crisis as many Asha health workers are on the brink of quitting, thanks to the delay in implementation of National Urban Health Mission (NUHM).
The city has 22 urban health centres (UHCs) that carry out activities and awareness campaigns for the benefit of pregnant women. UHCs are also responsible for carrying out activities related to AIDS and taking care of people affected by it.Each of these UHCs has about seven Asha workers who are in charge of tracking 3,000 people.
While five of these 22 UHCs work under the ambit of NUHM scheme, the rest function under the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC).
“These centres were supposed to be taken over by NUHM in April. However, it did not happen due to technical issues and there has been no response since,” VMC chief medical officer of health (CMOH) M Gopi Naik told TOI.
While it would not appear as a major problem to the normal eye, the Asha workers in the centres operated by VMC and NUHM do the same work but get a different treatment.
“Our counterparts in the NUHM centres do the same work as us. They hold the same post as us. While our salary is just Rs 4,500, they get paid Rs 10,000. I fail to understand as to why we do not deserve the same amount,” questioned an Asha worker from UHC–10 without disclosing her name.
To add to their woes, salaries of these 117 VMC Asha workers aren’t even credited on time, giving them more motives to quit.
“We began working here to support our families. But because of the irregular pay and the amount we shell out from our end for stationery, we end up taking money from our houses which defies the entire point of doing this job. So, the transfer to NUHM becomes a priority to us,” she added.
While the NUHM authorities refused to comment on the issue, the VMC officials admitted that it was becoming increasingly difficult for them to keep the workers motivated.
“We have been trying to push this through but there are some issues. Every day some Asha workers come down to my office insisting that they want to quit. We know the situation is very unjust and if stays this way, even the VMC will not be able to keep the workers,” Naik added.