NONGPOH:
The Meghalaya ASHA Worker Union in Ri Bhoi District, on November 16, conducted a Peace Rally, advocating for the regularisation of honorarium and incentives. Supported by village headmen, pressure groups, including the Hynniewtrep Youth Council and Confederation of Ri Bhoi People, as well as numerous ASHA workers, the rally began at NSCA Playground Pahamsyiem, proceeding through Nongpoh Town to the Office of Deputy Commissioner Ri-Bhoi District.
During the event, ASHA workers rejected Health Minister Ampareen Lyngdoh’s statements regarding their incentives, labelling them as false claims. Tildarika Wardkhar emphasised the societal undervaluation of ASHA workers, highlighting their essential contributions to public health. She urged the Health Minister not to mistreat them and demanded the preservation and increase of their incentives.
Mirajune Marsing, President of Meghalaya ASHA Worker Union, expressed discontent with the Health Minister’s disrespectful remarks, asserting that a more considerate response could have averted the need for the rally. Marsing clarified their demand for increased incentives, refuting the Minister’s claim of eighty-two thousand incentives, providing evidence of the actual 24,000 received annually. She also called for the disclosure of the alleged agreement ASHA workers signed for social services, emphasising the need for government-issued IDs to access essential services for free.
