Bengal: ASHA workers detained en route to health department HQ amid plans to intensify protests

Kolkata, Jan 21 (PTI) Several ASHA workers were Wednesday detained in various West Bengal districts while travelling to ‘Swasthya Bhawan’, the headquarters of the state’s health department, to take part in a march to press for their demands, including a hike in the minimum monthly honorarium and insurance cover, officials said.

The protesting Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA), who have been on a ‘cease-work’ since December 23, were detained as a precautionary measure, police said.

A section of the agitators claimed that police set up barricades outside Sealdah and Howrah railway stations, where they arrived from various districts since early morning.

Some were seen squatting on the plaforms at these railway stations.

“We have been prevented from exiting the Howrah station since 6.30 am,” an ASHA worker from Paschim Dinajpur claimed.

A number of agitators were also detained from near the ‘Swasthya Bhawan’ in the morning, where they had assembled to intensify their protest, police said.

The agitating ASHA workers had earlier marched to the ‘Swasthya Bhawan’ on January 8, followed by another protest demonstration on January 12, seeking a meeting with senior health officials over their long-pending demand for a fixed monthly salary instead of performance-linked allowances.

The ASHA workers’ demands include a minimum monthly honorarium of Rs 15,000 and insurance cover of Rs 5 lakh in case of death on duty.

Meanwhile, security has been tightened in and around ‘Swasthya Bhawan’ in Salt Lake near Kolkata, and traffic movement regulated, an official said.

West Bengal’s Minister of State for Health Chandrima Bhattacharya had on Tuesday advised the protesters against marching to ‘Swasthya Bhawan’, citing law and order concerns. PTI BSM RBT