Ahead of polls, Gujarat govt gives ASHA workers a 50% pay hike

The women health activists had protested in September demanding equal rights, pay and social security

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Rekha Rewat, an accredited social health activist (ASHA), in Madhya Pradesh. An ASHA serves as a healthcare facilitator, and goes door to door visiting the poorest and most vulnerable sections of the society–nearly 22% or 269 million Indians still li

BS Reporter Ahmedabad

Last Updated : Oct 30 2017 | 3:47 PM IST

In poll-bound Gujarat, the state government on Tuesday announced a 50 per cent pay hike for Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) workers in the state.

Following the approval of the 7th Pay Commission, the state government announced the salary hike for these women workers who serve as health activists in their localities. The ASHA workers had gone on protest in September, demanding equal rights, pay and social security benefits.

The state government had recently announced a slew of sops for employees of various departments, including teachers and other staff of 105 municipal corporations, ahead of the Assembly polls in the state. The Gujarat government also raised the annual income cap from Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs 2.5 lakh for the Mukyamantri Amrutam Vatsalya (MA-Vatsalya) Yojana for free medical treatment of up to Rs 2 lakh.

While Gujarat is heading for polls along with Himachal Pradesh in December, the Election Commission has not announced the dates yet. The model code of conduct would have come into immediate effect, had the election commission announced the dates of Gujarat Assembly Elections.