Delhi has doubled the monthly incentive paid to ASHA workers from Rs 3,000 to Rs 6,000, a decision approved at a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Tuesday. The increase applies to all ASHA workers currently working in the national capital and affects 6,725 workers, according to a report by Live Hindustan – NCR.
ASHA workers, or Accredited Social Health Activists, serve as a link between communities and the primary healthcare system. The Chief Minister said they provide health information through household visits, encourage families to complete vaccinations and assist with services related to pregnant women and new mothers.
Their responsibilities also include participation in health and nutrition days, public health awareness programmes, surveys and community meetings. The report said ASHA workers also provided important health services during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Gupta said the government had been discussing an increase in the honorarium paid to ASHA workers and that the decision was among its priorities. The monthly incentive increase, she said, recognised their contribution and was intended to strengthen their economic security and continuity of service.
The decision places additional financial support for community health workers within Delhi’s primary healthcare structure. ASHA workers routinely operate at neighbourhood level, where household outreach, vaccination awareness and maternal health support depend on sustained contact with residents. The source report did not provide the total annual financial burden of the incentive increase or specify when the revised payments would begin.
The Cabinet decision was reported alongside a separate approval concerning Delhi’s fast-track special courts. Lieutenant Governor Taranjit Singh Sandhu approved the creation of 427 support posts for 53 fast-track special courts. The posts include readers or senior judicial assistants, stenographers, ahlmads or judicial assistants, drivers and multi-tasking staff.
The 427 posts comprise 58 readers or senior judicial assistants, 58 senior private assistants, 58 private assistants, 58 ahlmads or judicial assistants, 58 assistant ahlmads or junior judicial assistants, 20 staff car drivers and 117 multi-tasking staff. The approved positions include posts reserved as 10 per cent leave-reserve positions for different categories.
The Finance Department has agreed to a proposal involving a financial burden of Rs 37.37 crore. The new court positions will be operationalised only after 243 vacant support posts in the existing 415 courts are filled on priority, according to the report. The source did not specify a deadline for filling those vacancies or activating the newly approved posts.
