The rise of Pink Wave: Scheme workers demand a stop to their exploitation

They are the backbone of the institutionalised delivery of Union government welfare schemes.

Women scheme workers protesting for better wages, social security benefits, and other demands in New Delhi, in November. | Photo Credit: Anjali Chauhan

A few weeks ago, the roads around Jantar Mantar in New Delhi saw a massive protest by women Scheme Workers. For starters, Scheme Workers deliver various Central welfare schemes. “Guarantee proper and equal wages to women workers!”, “Stop politics of riots and hate! Stop inflation and unemployment!” read the banners held by the women scheme workers who hailed from different parts of the country. Their faces reflected anger and anguish. Strangely, this crucial event escaped the lenses of major media houses.

Scheme workers form the backbone of the institutionalised delivery of various Union government welfare schemes, especially those concerning public health, childcare, and education. They not only work to bring welfare to the doorsteps of the most vulnerable citizens, but do it without even being recognised as government workers. They largely include ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activist) workers, who fall under the National Rural Health Mission; Anganwadi workers, who are attached to the Integrated Child Development Services; and mid-day meal workers, who work under the Mid-Day Meal scheme for schoolchildren, among others.

Almost 95 per cent of these workers are women. Their work ranges from ensuring institutionalised childbirth, vaccination, rural healthcare programmes, eradication of malnutrition, elementary education of children up to the age of six, and mid-day meals for children going to primary/middle schools, along with dealing with public concerns, addressing doubts, and creating awareness of programmes. Thus, all scheme workers together constitute a broad framework that is responsible for ensuring the health, nutrition, and well-being of the majority of the people.

While the procedure of their selection and their responsibilities and duties are laid down explicitly by the state, the workers are deemed as mere “volunteers”. This gives their job a precarious nature and robs them of the status of permanent government workers and associated benefits, such as fixed hours of work; fixed wages, pension; health benefits; and so on.

In the absence of guidelines from the Centre, most States prefer performance-based payment, which brings ambiguity in the calculation of wages and leaves the workers with no bargaining power. For instance, the website of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, under the National Health Mission, lays down multiple criteria for the selection, organisation, training, and work duties of ASHA workers but it says nothing about their wages or working hours.

The series of united protests, strikes, and demonstrations by women scheme workers in different parts of the country can be viewed as the “Pink Wave” of the workers’ movement in India. | Photo Credit: Anjali Chauhan

The National Health Systems Resource Centre, the support institution of the National Health Mission, brought out a 224-page report, “Evaluation of ASHA Program”, in 2011. It hardly touched upon the working conditions of ASHA workers and the challenges they face as individuals.

Cause of discontent

The main issue is the casualisation of this category of work. The contractual nature of the job deprives the women of their rights and social security benefits, leaving them with no ability to demand better wages or working conditions. They often suffer from delayed payments, long and unregulated work hours, lack of decent working conditions, and absence of grievance redress mechanisms.

Their condition worsened after COVID-19 and has been deteriorating since. The pandemic was nothing less than an apocalypse, especially for vulnerable populations, and amidst that, scheme workers, especially ASHAs, besides fulfilling their responsibilities took on the arduous task of combating the virus, conducting COVID-19 tests, checking patients in home isolation and becoming a communication link between people, doctors, and hospitals. They were of immense help in gathering vital data that helped the government frame policies to tackle the situation. Most of this work that endangered health and life was done without any major incentive.

THE DEMANDS 

Give scheme workers (ASHA, Mid-Day meal, Anganwadi, etc.) the status of government employees.

Fix a monthly salary of Rs. 28,000 for scheme workers at the national level.

Guarantee proper social security including pension.

Fix working hours for scheme workers. Form a gender cell to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace.

Stop privatization / NGO-ization of these public utility government schemes (NHM, Mid-Day meal, ICDS, etc.)

Provide proper compensation to the families of the scheme workers who died during the pandemic.

An Oxfam survey in Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Bihar, and Chhattisgarh brought out the dismal conditions under which ASHA workers functioned during the pandemic. The report states that at least 25 per cent of ASHA workers did not receive even masks, 38 per cent did not receive gloves, and only 23 per cent received PPE body suits. Two-thirds of them did not receive the COVID-19 bonus promised to them. In fact, less than 50 per cent received monthly honorariums on time. Across the rural belt, mid day meal scheme workers were given the responsibility of preparing food for COVID patients in quarantine centres.

ASHA workers were honoured with the WHO’s Global Health Leaders Award 2022, which recognised their leadership, contributions to global health, and commitment to regional health issues. But even this did not have any effect on the state.

All India Scheme Workers’s protest

In November, around 4,000 workers from various schemes from States like Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Assam, Punjab, Delhi, and more gathered at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi under the banner of “Rights and Respect Mahadharna”. The protest was organised by the All India Scheme Workers’ Federation [affiliated to All-India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU)], which launched a nationwide campaign to struggle for the rights and dignity of scheme workers

Shweta Raj, general secretary, Dilli ASHA Kamgar Union (AICCTU), said: “On the one hand, the ASHAs have been honoured with the “Global Health Leaders Award” by WHO. On the other, they do not get a respectable salary, do not have fixed working hours, and are regularly mistreated in dispensaries and hospitals. Many ASHA workers lost their lives while on duty during the pandemic but their families have not received any compensation so far.”

In 2022, there have been a series of protests. In March, over 900 Anganwadi workers were terminated from their jobs in Delhi for protesting for better wages.  | Photo Credit: Anjali Chauhan

Shashi Yadav, the national convener of the All India Scheme Workers’ Federation, said the government wants to pay less and get more out of scheme workers. “The government gives Rs. 1,200-1,500 to mid-day meal workers and makes them work eight hours a day. You can call it a form of bonded labour.”

In August 2022, the Supreme Court gave relief to over 25 lakh Anganwadi workers/helpers by acknowledging their plight and said they were entitled to be paid gratuity. The apex court asked the Union and State governments to take serious note of the grievances. Not much has improved yet even after this order.

Meena Devi, an ASHA worker from Muzaffarpur, Bihar, is a widow and the sole earner of a family of eight. She came to Delhi alone to take part in the protest. She said that most hospitals don’t even have a place for them to rest, and most of the time they sit on staircases between work. “I hardly earn enough to feed my family. We take care of pregnant women but don’t get paid for it. We went from door to door during COVID-19 to ensure that people were vaccinated and got hardly anything for that work.” Meena’s oldest daughter will graduate soon, and it is Meena who supports her studies. “I don’t want my daughter to do the work I’m doing, the same drudgery,” she said.

Hema Engtipi had come from Assam. She said that payments were irregular. And even though they were meant to get Rs.3,000 a month, most of the time they got only Rs.2,000.

Parvati Kashinath Patil had come from Maharashtra. The Anganwadi worker said, “For more than 14 years, we fought to convert Balwadis into Anganwadis and since then we’ve been demanding to be considered as salaried workers.” Her colleague from Maharashtra said, “At a time when there was no help, we came forward. The government did not give us any compensation for that.”

Pink wave?

The series of united protests, strikes, and demonstrations by women scheme workers in different parts of the country can be viewed as the “Pink Wave” of the workers’ movement in India. In August 2020, scheme workers announced a two-day all-India strike while holding demonstrations at the community health centres and project headquarters in their States. Again, in September 2021, lakhs of scheme workers protested and were backed by at least 10 trade unions demanding regularization of work and better pay.

In 2022 there have been a series of protests. In March, over 900 Anganwadi workers were terminated from their jobs in Delhi for protesting for better wages. This was followed by a mass demonstration outside the Delhi Lieutenant Governor’s office against their termination.

The latest protest witnessed strong solidarity among scheme workers overriding regional, language, religious, and cultural differences. The lack of recognition of scheme work that falls in the category of essential care work is in line with the general invisibility of both women and the care work traditionally ascribed to them. It is high time that the state recognised the labour involved in care work and also legitimised it with adequate wages and associated facilities.

Anjali Chauhan is pursuing PhD in Political Science from the Department of Political Science, University of Delhi. She writes on issues concerning Women, Labour, and State Politics.

The Crux

• In November, women scheme workers protested in mass numbers in New Delhi, demanding for better wages, social security benefits, etc.
• Scheme workers are the backbone of the institutionalised delivery of various Union government welfare schemes, especially those concerning public health, childcare, and education.
• Almost 95 per cent of these workers are women.
• The series of united protests, strikes, and demonstrations by women scheme workers in different parts of the country can be viewed as the “Pink Wave” of the workers’ movement in India.