ASHA NIRASHA

Overworked, underpaid and vulnerable to infection, around 20,000 ASHA workers are practically the first line of defence against the contagion, especially in the Kashmir periphery. Given that they lack even the basics of rights as workers, they seemingly are an exploited lot, Farzana Nisar reports

- Farzana Nisar

As the afternoon sun shines brightly in the cloudless sky, Rafiqa Lolabi, 40-year old Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA), hurriedly passes through the tortuous narrow lanes of the Sogam village in Kupwara. Donning a white disposable apron and a bundle of files in her hand, Rafiqa knocks at the door of every house and asks the inmates few questions about Covid-19 vaccination. She then jots down the important details in one of her files. This has been nearly the everyday practice of this woman for the last 14 years.

“My day starts at 10 am. I visit door to door to conduct different health surveys like keeping a record of pregnant women in our areas, immunization drives, assisting deliveries, etc. Our work also includes management of sick during home visits, creating awareness on health and providing necessary drugs and supplements to people,” Rafiqa said, hurriedly adding: “But this is not all.”

As the pandemic raged on, Rafiqa like thousands of other ASHA workers was deployed on Covid-19 duty. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare assigned them the task of contact tracing, ensuring the infected people isolate, helming the vaccination drive and maintaining the records.

“We have been given the responsibility of providing the data from ground zero during this pandemic,” Rafiqa, who is also the district president of ASHA workers association Kupwara, said. “The expansion in our duties is not only tiring but risky too”.

THE DECISION