Meghalaya ASHA Workers Threaten Indefinite Hunger Strike

PENDING INCENTIVES

STAFF CORRESPONDENT

SHILLONG: Disgruntled workers under the banner of the Meghalaya ASHA Workers Union (MAWU) have threatened to go on indefinite hunger strike if the State government fails to release the pending incentives.

After resorting to a strike since August 20 last, the MAWU functionaries felt that they have been ignored and neglected as volunteers at the grassroots level. “We know that the services to the common man have been hampered but compulsions have driven us to this level,” stated Mary June Myrsiang, the general secretary of MAWU. She added: “If the government doesn’t pay to heed our next step is to go for an indefinite hunger strike.”

The ASHA workers have not received the Asha benefits since 2015, the other being the Meghalaya Maternity benefits scheme since 2012 onwards, the honorarium for the past one year, the home-based newborn care for the last six months and JSY for the same period of time. Asked on whether they have taken up the matters with the government, the ASHA union functionaries said that the officials cited certain technical reasons. “Our workload is already heavy and without these incentives, it will be difficult to run our families,” stated the adviser of the MAWU Sani Kharjana. There are 7,000 odd ASHA workers in the State.

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