The Telugu Desam Party-led government in Andhra Pradesh has announced gratuity for ASHA workers, enhanced retirement age from 60 to 62 years, and paid maternity leave of 180 days.
Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on March 1 approved the payment of gratuity to ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activist) workers. Each ASHA worker will get Rs 1.5 lakh at the time of retirement after serving for 30 years.
Andhra Pradesh will be the first and only state in the country to pay gratuity to ASHA workers, said an official statement.
The government has also announced paid maternity leave for 180 days for the first two deliveries.
The measures will benefit 42,752 ASHA workers across the state. There are 37,017 workers in rural areas while 5,735 are serving in urban areas.
The Chief Minister gave his approval for these measures during a review meeting of the health department. The Chief Minister directed officials to study the salaries of ASHA workers, the facilities available to them, and related issues in other states to suggest modalities for payment of gratuity.
ASHA workers in Andhra Pradesh had long been demanding gratuity.
According to an official release, they were not being paid wages during maternity leave but now the TDP-led coalition government decided to give them maternity leave for 180 days with wages for the first two deliveries. This means ASHA workers availing maternity leave will be paid six months’ salary of Rs 60,000.
The Andhra Pradesh government is paying Rs 10,000 salary to ASHA workers, which is the highest in the country. Those delivering similar services are being paid Rs 750 in Uttar Pradesh, Rs 2,000 in Himachal Pradesh, Rs 2,700 in Rajasthan, Rs 3,000 each in West Bengal and Delhi, Rs 4,000 each in Haryana and Karnataka, Rs 5,000 in Kerala, Rs 6,000 in Sikkim and Rs 7,500 in Telangana.