New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi attacked the Centre on Saturday over the ASHA health workers' strike to press for better service conditions and benefits, saying the government was "mute" already, but now maybe "blind and deaf" also.
"ASHA workers take health protection to homes across the country. They are truly health warriors, but today they are forced to go on strike for their own rights," Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi.
He tagged a media report about workers under the ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activist), Anganwadi, and National Health Mission being on a two-day nationwide strike from Friday to press for better service conditions and benefits. "The government was mute already, but now maybe blind and deaf also," the former Congress president said.
"The unions and federations of scheme workers (Anganwadi, ASHA, Mid-Day Meal, NHM, Samagra Sikksha etc) affiliated to the central trade unions (INTUC, AITUC, HMS, CITU, AIUTUC, TUCC, SEWA, AICCTU, LPF, UTUC) will go on two days strike on August 7-8, 2020," the joint statement by ten central trade unions released on Thursday said.
Scheme workers, who are among frontline workers in the fight against COVID-19, are forced to take this step after four months of the outbreak of the pandemic and the lockdown because none of the minimum requirements for them – safety, insurance and risk allowance- is provided by the government, the unions charged.
Many of the workers have died due to coronavirus during this period and even their monthly wages are not paid for months together, the unions claimed. They had asked the government to clear all pending dues of wages and allowances etc of all scheme workers immediately. The unions had said that strikes and struggles are going on in different parts of the country.
In Bihar, ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activist) workers went on strike from Thursday. In some states and areas where the Covid-19 situation is very bad, scheme workers will work wearing black badges.
PTI
Also read: Karnataka: ASHA workers' protest demanding PPE kits, salary hike enters 14th day
