Health Ministry directs states to give additional incentive to ASHA workers for Covid duty

Amid Coronavirus pandemic, Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Wednesday directed all states to provide financial incentives to ASHA workers for undertaking COVID-19 related activities.  order also said that in addition to ses incentives, states should ensure that se workers are supplied with adequate protective equipment as a safety measure.

Health Ministry said that in view of additional workload on account to COVID-19 related work, additional incentives of Rs. 1000 per month should be paid to ASHA workers. se additional incentives may be paid to m from period of ir engment in this work between January 1, 2020, and June 30, 2020.

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Health Ministry asked all states to ensure that ASHA workers receive incentives of Rs. 2000 for routine and recurring activities and y should also continue to get or incentives for activities such as JSY, HBNC, etc. as per national/state rms during this period.

Health Ministry also ackwledged efforts made by ASHA workers across country in fight against COVID-19 with regard to various initiatives taken by m related to COVID-19, and additional responsibilities related to n-COVID essential services amid lockdown.

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'Zero tolerance' for attacks

In fight against COVID-19, some parts of country have also seen attacks on health workers and ors on front line of battle. Adopting "zero tolerance" for attacks on health workers fighting COVID-19 battle, government on Wednesday proposed making such offences n-bailable with a maximum punishment of seven years in jail and Rs 5 lakh fine.

"Our government has zero-tolerance against violence and harassment targeting doctors, nurses, paramedics, and ASHA workers when y are doing ir best to fight pandemic," Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar said after a union cabinet meeting.

I&B minister Javadekar said a person can be sentenced to anywhere between three months and five years in jail, besides a fine between Rs 50,000 and two lakh, for crimes against healthcare workers under new provision.

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At meeting, cabinet also approved Rs 15,000 crore for ''India COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health System Preparedness Pack'' for setting up dedicated treatment facilities and laboratories as part of an urgent response to contain pandemic. fund will be utilized in three phases.

nationwide tally of coronavirus positive cases reported by various states and UTs, in meantime, crossed 21,000 with over 680 deaths.

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(with ncies input)