Andhra Pradesh health workers hold massive protest demanding Jagan to honour election promise
Raising anti-governnment slogans, the health workers also demanded that the honorarium which is paid over and above the salary which is pending since four months be paid immediately.
A file photo of YS Jagan Mohan Reddy addressing YSRCP supporters during election campaign trail. (PTI)
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State Government health workers held a massive protest in Vijayawada Monday demanding that Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy implement the promises he made to them before the elections. Thousands of Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) workers and Community Health Workers arrived from all the 13 districts of Andhra Pradesh and held a massive demonstration at Lenin Centre demanding that the government pay them Rs 10,000 salary per month as was promised by Jagan Mohan Reddy.
Raising anti-governnment slogans, the health workers also demanded that the honorarium which is paid over and above the salary which is pending since four months be paid immediately. “During his padayatra, Jagan promised to increase our salaries from Rs 3,000 to Rs 10,000 per month. After becoming the CM he announced the increase in our salaries but we are not being paid Rs 10,000. Instead, the government is grading the workers under A, B,C categories depending on the kind of services we provide. The B and C grade workers are not getting the Rs 10,000 that was promised by Jagan Mohan Reddy. All of us voted overwhelmingly in favour of YSRCP thinking that Jagan would keep his promises but we are very disappointed,” the workers’ leader P Mani said.
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The workers gathered under the aegis of Andhra Pradesh ASHA Workers Union which is affiliated to Centre of Indian Trade Union.
Since Sunday morning, the state government tried to prevent the women from gathering at Vijayawada. Workers alleged that police stopped buses and forcibly evicted them and told them to go home.
“Sunday night, more than 100 workers were detained in Visakhapatnam while they were leaving for Vijayawada. Police took them to police stations and took a written undertaking that they wont go to Vijayawada,” one woman alleged.
Those who could not go to the protest in Vijayawada held demonstrations outside district collectorates in their respective districts. There are nearly 45,000 ASHA workers in Andhra Pradesh. The Asha workers’ salary has two components — a fixed amount and a honorarium paid depending on the health services they provide. The previous Telugu Desam Party had increased the salaries from Rs 3,000 to Rs 6,000 but the honorarium was so less that none of the workers ever received Rs 6,000.
Workers alleged that the YSRCP Government is also resorting to the same tactic of grading the workers according to the kind of services they provide to pay the honorarium which means most of them wont get the Rs 10,000 salary that was promised by Jagan Mohan Reddy.
Sreenivas Janyala is a Deputy Associate Editor at The Indian Express, where he serves as one of the most authoritative voices on the socio-political and economic landscape of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. With a career spanning over two decades in mainstream journalism, he provides deep-dive analysis and frontline reporting on the intricate dynamics of South Indian governance.
Expertise and Experience
Regional Specialization: Based in Hyderabad, Sreenivas has spent more than 20 years documenting the evolution of the Telugu-speaking states. His reporting was foundational during the historic Telangana statehood movement and continues to track the post-bifurcation development of both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
Key Coverage Beats: His extensive portfolio covers a vast spectrum of critical issues:
High-Stakes Politics: Comprehensive tracking of regional powerhouses (BRS, TDP, YSRCP, and Congress), electoral shifts, and the political careers of figures like K. Chandrashekar Rao, Chandrababu Naidu, and Jagan Mohan Reddy.
Internal Security & Conflict: Authoritative reporting on Left-Wing Extremism (LWE), the decline of the Maoist movement in former hotbeds, and intelligence-led investigations into regional security modules.
Governance & Infrastructure: Detailed analysis of massive irrigation projects (like Kaleshwaram and Polavaram), capital city developments (Amaravati), and the implementation of state welfare schemes.
Crisis & Health Reporting: Led the publication's ground-level coverage of the Covid-19 pandemic in South India and major industrial incidents, such as the Vizag gas leak.
Analytical Depth: Beyond daily news, Sreenivas is known for his "Explained" pieces that demystify complex regional disputes, such as river water sharing and judicial allocations between the sister states. ... Read More
