ASHA Workers Take to the Streets in Dindigul Over Pay and Benefits

On Monday morning, the Dindigul Collectorate became the unexpected backdrop for a colourful, noisy demonstration by Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) workers. Over a hundred of them, armed with placards and a palpable sense of urgency, gathered to make their grievances heard.

At the heart of their demand is a call for regularisation of the services they render – the women who go door‑to‑door, check mothers and infants, and coordinate vaccination drives. They want a guaranteed monthly salary of ₹26,000, and, crucially, they ask that it be paid without delay, preferably between the 1st and 5th of every month.

“We work long hours, often beyond the official schedule, and still we wait for our pay,” one protester, who asked to remain anonymous, said, her voice trembling with both frustration and hope. The workers also pleaded for a modest travel allowance and a mobile reimbursement, acknowledging the reality that they spend a great deal of their own money staying in touch with the communities they serve.

Overtime, they claimed, has become the norm rather than the exception. “We are not asking for anything extraordinary – just that the overtime we already do be recognised and compensated,” another ASHA added, gesturing toward the crowd that nodded in agreement.

Beyond immediate wages, the demonstrators called for the implementation of statutory benefits that many formal sector employees enjoy: gratuity, Provident Fund (PF) and Employees’ State Insurance (ESI). The absence of these safeguards, they argue, leaves them vulnerable in the very job that is supposed to safeguard public health.

The protest, while peaceful, was a vivid reminder of the thin line ASHA workers walk between public service and personal sacrifice. Their plea is simple: treat us with the dignity, regular pay and benefits that our work undeniably deserves.