Former Congress President and Rajya Sabha member Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday highlighted the ongoing distress faced by millions of women frontline workers during Zero Hour, calling for urgent reforms to support ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activists), Anganwadi workers and helpers, and community resource persons under the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM).
Gandhi described these government initiatives as vital pathways for women's empowerment but lamented that the workers remain “overburdened”, underpaid, and undervalued despite their indispensable contributions to public health, nutrition, and child development.
ASHA workers, classified as volunteers, handle critical tasks like immunisation drives, maternal health support, and family welfare programs, but receive low honoraria with minimal social security, she said. Anganwadi workers and helpers, central to the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme, earn a base honorarium from the Union government of approximately Rs 4,500 for workers and Rs 2,250 for helpers monthly, often supplemented variably by states, the Congress leader said.
She pointed to nearly 3,00,000 vacancies across ICDS levels nationwide, resulting in gaps that deprive lakhs of children and mothers of essential nutrition, health check-ups, and early education services. Gandhi pointed out the staffing norms for relying on outdated 2011 census data, failing to account for population growth.
Urging close coordination between the Centre and states, Gandhi outlined five priority measures immediate filling of all vacancies, ensuring timely remuneration, doubling the Union government's contribution to honoraria, appointing additional ASHA workers in villages with populations exceeding 2,500, and expanding Anganwadi staffing to incorporate early childhood education alongside existing nutrition and health focuses.
Emphasising the broader impact, she stated that strengthening and expanding this workforce represents a strategic investment in India's future, particularly in maternal and child health outcomes. The intervention comes amid persistent demands from these workers for employee status, minimum wages, and better benefits, with recent protests in several states underscoring low pay and job insecurity.