Protests erupt outside Bengal’s health department as ASHA workers demand pay hike, benefits

Hundreds of Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) laid siege to the headquarters of the West Bengal Health Department at Swasthya Bhavan in Kolkata on Wednesday (January 7, 2026), demanding better pay and insurance benefits after a casework protest for the last 15 days.

A wave of pink and purple — protesting ASHA workers in uniform — took over Salt Lake Sector V from Wednesday (January 7) morning, and coalesced outside Swasthya Bhavan as the day progressed. They continued their agitation over eight main demands, including raising the monthly honorarium from ₹5,250 to ₹15,000 and for a compensation of ₹5 lakhs in case of death on duty.

Protestors sloganeered, blocked roads and traffic, and breached barricades trying to enter Swasthya Bhavan, but failed after the police locked the main gate to stop them from entering. They continued their protest in the form of a sit-in agitation outside Swasthya Bhavan and demanded a team of representatives be allowed to meet Health department officials to discuss their demands.

“We want our monthly honorarium to be increased to Rs 15,000, we want maternity leave, compensation in case of death on duty, we want to be recognised as permanent government employees and not volunteers. We also want the mobile phone costs for digital data entry work to be covered, and the disbursal of pending allowances promised earlier,” a protesting ASHA worker said.

She added that their tasks involve giving a wide range of services for maternity and child care, including rushing to people’s homes at very late hours in case of any medical emergency. “Despite helping so many pregnant women and new mothers, we do not have the benefit of maternity leave ourselves,” she said.

ASHA workers have boycotted work for over two weeks as part of their ongoing agitation, and have claimed to have submitted multiple deputations to the Health department with their demands.

According to data provided by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, there are around 70,468 ASHA workers in West Bengal as of September 2024.

Their duties include informing communities on nutrition, basic sanitation, and hygienic practices, and counselling women on birth preparedness, safe delivery, breast-feeding, immunisation, contraception and prevention of common infections including sexually transmitted infections, and caring for young children.