Expelled AIADMK coordinator O. Panneerselvam on Sunday, June 25, 2023 urged Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin to invite the Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA), who staged a protest on Friday, June 23, for talks and provide them a consolidated pay of ₹15,000 a month.
In a statement, he also urged the Central government to increase the honorarium and the activity-based incentives paid to them. ASHAs, who work round-the-clock in the hill villages but without the status of workers but as ‘activists’, staged a demonstration in Chennai on Friday over their long-pending demands.
While the Centre pays a fixed honorarium of ₹2,000 and incentives of around ₹1,500 a month to them, Mr. Panneerselvam quoted ASHAs to say the Tamil Nadu government has not been paying them.
