Honorarium hike for Anganwadi, ASHA workers
New Delhi : The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on Wednesday approved a hike in honorarium for Anganwadi and ASHA workers.
The Anganwadi worker would now get a monthly honorarium of Rs 4,500 per month instead of Rs 3,000 earlier. The Anganwadi helper would get Rs 2,250 per month in place of Rs 1,500 earlier.
The Anganwadi worker at a mini Anganwadi centre would get monthly Rs 3,500 instead of Rs 2,250, the government said.
In addition, the monthly performance linked incentive of Rs 250 has also been approved for Anganwadi helpers for facilitating proper functioning of Anganwadi centres.
The enhanced rate of honorarium and performance linked incentive would be effective from October 1 this year and would cost of Rs 10,649 crore for the period between October 1, 2018 to March 31, 2020.
The ASHA workers would now get Rs 2,000 per month in place of Rs 1,000 earlier, with an approved package of Rs 1,224.97 crore till 2020 under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM).
"Nearly 27 lakh Anganwadi workers and helpers will be benefited. Anganwadi services (umbrella Integrated Child Development Scheme) is a universal scheme and beneficiaries are spread all over the country," a government release said.
"The programme through targeted interventions will strive to reduce the level of malnutrition, anaemia and low birth weight babies, ensure empowerment of adolescent girls and provide safe place for day care to children of working mothers," it added.
The Anganwadi services (ICDS) are aimed at holistic development of children under the age of six years and its beneficiaries are children of this age group and pregnant women and lactating mothers.
"The rate of honorarium paid to the Anganwadi workers and helpers was last revised in 2011. Since then the cost of living has increased and the cost norms for the administration of supplementary nutrition have also been revised recently in 2017," the release said.
ASHA and ASHA facilitators meeting the eligibility criteria will be enrolled in government's social security schemes -- Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY) and Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY), it said.
More than one crore ASHAs and ASHA facilitators will be covered under PMJJBY and more than nine lakh of them will be covered under PMSBY, according to the statement.
