Asha workers want honorarium dues

Ongole: The Prakasam district unit of Andhra Pradesh Asha Workers Union in association with the Center of Indian Trade Unions staged a protest in front of the Collectorate in Ongole on Friday. They formed a human chain at the Church Center and wanted immediate release of the dues of honorariums and other charges pending for a long time.

The AP Asha Workers Union state committee member, Vemuri Pullamma said that the government had not paid their honorariums from October 2016 to January 2017. She said that it was not releasing the charges of the TB Cases and 104 cases attended by them for nearly two years. She demanded that the government release those dues immediately.

District committee members M Jayalakshmi, G Aruna and others said that the government also didn’t distribute the uniforms for the last four years. They said that the Asha workers were available to the people for the last 12 years for the service of pregnant women, nursing mothers and infants, taking care of their nutrition and other health problems. They said that they were working in the PHCs though there was no sufficient infrastructure.

As the women tried to force enter into the Collectorate, the police obstructed them. After a discussion, the DMHO Rajyalakshmi came to the Asha workers and assured them a speedy solution to their issues.