Asha workers protest in Hisar, Sirsa over pending demands

Haryana has 20,350 Asha workers for the nearly 7,000 villages, colonies and urban areas; the Asha Workers’ Association claims that nearly 20,000 of them have been on strike since August 8

To voice their pending demands, Asha workers on Wednesday stormed the residences of deputy chief minister Dushyant Chautala in Sirsa and urban local bodies minister Kamal Gupta in Hisar.

Dharshan Rani, Sirsa district president of Asha Workers’ Association, said they have decided to storm the residence of Dushyant Chautala as their demand of a government employee status and a monthly salary of ₹26,000 was not accepted by the state governmen (HT File)

Dharshan Rani, Sirsa district president of Asha Workers’ Association, said they have decided to storm the residence of Dushyant Chautala as their demand of a government employee status and a monthly salary of ₹26,000 was not accepted by the state government.

“ The police have installed barricades to stop us and they manhandled our associates, which is condemnable. We are earning an average of ₹7,000 to ₹9,000 per month. The Asha workers in Puducherry, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala and West Bengal are getting higher and fixed salaries. If the government fails to accept our demands, we will pitch tents outside the deputy CM’s residence and launch an indefinite strike,” she added.

Haryana has 20,350 Asha workers for the nearly 7,000 villages, colonies and urban areas. The Asha Workers’ Association claims that nearly 20,000 of them have been on strike since August 8.

Asha workers’ union’s Haryana president Sunita said there has been no increase in their allowance in the last t five years while their work has increased three times.

“The prices of essential commodities have also doubled in the last five years but we are getting the same allowances for the last five years. We will continue our protest until our demands are not met,” she added.