- Thursday, April 10, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
A LOT is being said about the frontline workers in India who have risked their lives to help others in times of the coronavirus pandemic. But while these workers have been praised orally, is all well with them on the ground? Are the social workers getting their dues after doing all they can to save lives in these trying times?
The News Minute has brought out reports focusing on the frontline workers in times of the pandemic and they have revealed some shocking realities. These selfless workers are perhaps not getting as much as they should after doing all the hard work in combating the deadly pandemic.
No healthcare
The News Minute recently reported about the conditions of the workers who are part of the national Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) system in the South Indian state of Telangana. In a report, it spoke about Jayalakshmi, a frontline ASHA worker, who contracted Covid-19 but could not find a hospital bed when the devastating second wave wreaked havoc across India. The country saw a serious shortage of accommodation in hospitals and oxygen between March and May and Jayalakshmi, who worked with the Kadthal Primary Health Centre in Telangana’s Nirmal district, failed to find admission at the district government hospital, The News Minute added. She was taken to the adjacent district of Nizamabad but there was no oxygen. Jayalakshmi passed away in April.
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Jayalakshmi, however, is not the only ASHA worker whose life has been claimed by the virus in Telangana. The News Minute added that she is one of the 10 who died while carrying out their duties as a frontline worker.
When the ASHA scheme for the women was launched in 2005, its workers were mainly asked to help rural communities to get health-related activities, including postnatal care for women. But after the pandemic started, they have also been pressed into combating the highly infectious disease, including Covid-19 tests to checking patients lying in home isolation besides registering for vaccination. And they are paid a compensation which is far less compared to the efforts they have put.
The ASHA workers’ union also told The News Minute that the actual death toll of the workers is much higher (at least 20) than what the official version says and the Telangana government has not given them the due recognition. Also in the neighbouring state of Karnataka, 22 ASHA workers have died since the pandemic took a dangerous shape in March 2020 and of them, 16 have died of the virus. Only two of those who died of the virus have received compensation till now, Samyukhta ASHA Karyakarteyara Sangha (SAKS) – the ASHA workers’ union in the state has told the media outlet.
ASHA workers’ deaths put their families in great trouble
Deaths like those of Jayalakshmi leave families in ruins. Jayalakshmi left behind her teenage children who are pursuing their education. But the family is in dire straits and badly requires money for survival, B Sujatha, a local community service head in Nirmal district told The News Minute.
According to the ASHA workers’ union, the families of deceased ASHA workers should get a compensation of Rs 50 lakh ($5 million) under the central government’s ‘Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package Insurance Scheme’ for Health Workers fighting COVID-19.
But none of the deceased ASHA workers’ family members, including Jayalakshmi’s, have got any ex-gratia payment so far, Telangana Voluntary and Community Healthworkers Union, the state association of ASHA workers led by the Centre of Indian Trade Unions, has said. While efforts have been made to collect Rs 50,000 in donations to Jayalakshmi’s family but that is far off from the amount of Rs 50 lakh.
Out of 26,000 workers in Telangana, 30% of them have been infected with COVID-19, the union said.
“It is pure exploitation,” Bhanupriya Rao, who researched the working conditions of the ASHA system, told The News Minute. “Many women from the marginalised communities join as ASHAs thinking that since they are working for the government and that their jobs will be regularised at some point. But all their hopes have faded. Despite a decade into service, their income must have increased by a mere Rs 1,000. Perhaps, the only job with such a petty raise,” she said.
In September last year, the government in Telangana had ensured that the ASHA workers received a fixed monthly amount of Rs 7,200 for three months, including the state government’s incentive of Rs 750 and the central government’s Rs 1,000.
Working hours have increased
But the workers said that the amount is too less, especially considering the hours they put in and the risk they face in times of the pandemic. During the pandemic, the work hours have gone up on an average from six to eight hours a day to almost 12-15 hours a day. They also have to be on call for almost 24 hours, a study conducted by Behan Box, which works on gender equality, said. The study was carried out across eight states besides Telangana and Karnataka.
It has been alleged that the workers are even denied basic facilities in times of work, including water and food. They allege that they are not provided adequate safety equipment when they go out for work like conducting Covid-19 tests and monitor health of Covid-19 patients. Even when they go for a funeral, they are asked to report to duty immediately, the allegations go.
Behan Box has also found that ASHA has been pushed into debt burden during the pandemic because of inadequate remuneration and delay in payments because of job losses in families, The News Minute report added. And amid such hardships, the ASHA workers are yet forced to invest in smart phones for their children’s online education and expenses and protective gear to ensure that they do not get infected.
