Parliament Question: Budget Allocation for ASHA Wokers Remuneration

GOVERNMENTOFINDIA MINISTRYOFHEALTH AND FAMILYWELFARE DEPARTMENTOFHEALTH AND FAMILYWELFARE LOK SABHA UNSTARREDQUESTION NO. 3480 TO BE ANSWERED ON13.03.2026 BUDGETALLOCATIONFORASHAWOKERSREMUNERATION

3480. SHRIMANOJ KUMAR:

Will the Minister of HEALTHANDFAMILYWELFARE be pleased tostate:

(a) the detailsof the budget allocated, sanctioned,disbursed andutilised for ASHAworker remuneration since 2019 along with the measures taken by the Government to ensure timely payment of incentives and reimbursement of expenses incurred by ASHA workersin the country,State-wise;

(b) the details of last wage/incentive revision or incrementdone bythe Union Government since 2014 andthe average time within which such revision isundertaken;

(c) whether the Government is aware that in the State of Bihar, ASHA workers are receiving camparatively lower incentive/wages than the minimum wages fixed by the Government for unskilled labour,if so, the detailsthereof; and

(d) the steps taken/being taken by the Union Government to address the long-standing demands of ASHA workers for wages, incentives and pay increment, fixed wages and jobsecurity such aspensions, insurance andpaidleave andif not,the reasons therefor? ANSWER THE MINISTER OFSTATE IN THE MINISTRYOFHEALTH AND FAMILYWELFARE (SHRIPRATAPRAO JADHAV)

(a) to (d) : ASHAs are envisaged to be community health volunteer and are given performance-based incentives after completion of specific activities under various National HealthProgrammes.

ASHAs receive a fixed monthly incentive for routine and recurring activities.

Additionally, they are provided performance-based incentives for a varied set of activities under various National Health Programmes. Incentives under ASHA program are revised regularly based on national priority and requests from State/UTs. Further new activities arealso included periodically.ASHAs do not have fixed working hours, a defined workplace, or regular attendance requirements. Their work is largely dependent on community needs, outreach, and health events. The details of these ASHA incentives are available on the following UniformResourcesLocator(URL):

https://nhm.gov.in/New-Update-2025-26/ASHA-incentive/ASHA%20Incentives.pdf Further, the primary responsibility of strengthening public healthcare system, including support for ASHA workers lies with the respective State/UT Governments. Under National Health Mission (NHM), the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare provides the technical and financial support to the States/UTs to strengthen their public healthcare system, based on the requirements posted by States/UTs in their Programme Implementation Plans

(PIPs)andwithin the overall resource envelope.

Funds under NHM are released under Flexipool, to provide flexibility to States and SNA SPARSH release mechanism is implemented under NHM for Just in Time release of funds.

The details of Approvals and Expenditure for ASHA workers under NHM during the periodof F.Y. 2019-20 toF.Y.2024-25 at Annexure.

Health is State Subject. Further, States/UTs including Bihar have also been given flexibility to provide additional incentives to ASHA workers. Based on local needs, geography, andhealth dynamics, States/UTsmaydecide toprovide appropriate honorarium to ASHAs overandabove the support providedunderNHM.

After the launch of Ayushman Arogya Mandir, ASHAs are eligible additionally for Team Based Incentives (TBIs) based on monitored performance indicators (up to 1000 per month). ASHAs are also entitled to non-monetary incentives like – ASHA Uniform, Identity Card, CUG Sim, ASHA Diary, ASHA rest room etc. The Government has also approved a cash award of ₹20,000/- and a citation to ASHAs who leave the programme after working as ASHAs for minimumof 10years, asacknowledgement of theircontribution.

In the year 2018, the ASHA benefit package was introduced acknowledging significant contribution andcommitmentof ASHAs. The packageprovidescoverage for:  Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Beema Yojana (PMJJBY) with a benefit Rs. 2.00 Lakh incase of deathof the insured (annual premium contributedby GOI).

 Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Beema Yojana (PMSBY) with a benefit of Rs.2.00 lakh for accidental death or permanent disability; Rs. 1.00 lakh for partial disability (annual premium contributedbyGOI).In addition, Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maan Dhan (PM-SYM) with pension benefit of ₹3,000/- pm after age of 60 years (50% contribution of premium by GOI and 50% by beneficiaries) is also available for ASHA workers. ASHAs across the States/UTs have been enrolled in all the above-mentioned Social Security Schemes as per the defined eligibility norms.

Also, a health care annual coverage of ₹5 Lakhs under Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB- PMJAY)hasbeenextendedto allASHAs workers.

The incentive structure for the Accredited SocialHealth Activists (ASHAs) have been revised regularly with the timely addition of incentives to align with the programmatic requirements and priorities. The incentives of the ASHA workers were last revised in the 7th meetingof Mission Steering Group(MSG) held on7thSeptember, 2022.

***Annexure StatementShowingStates/UTswiseApprovalsandExpenditureforASHA underNationalRuralHealthMission(NHM)fromF.Y.2019-20to2025-26 (Rs.In Lakhs) 2019-20 2020-21 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 2024-25 2025-26 Sl.

Nameofthe N State/UTs Expenditu Expenditu Expenditu Expenditu Expendit Approval Expendit Approval Expendit o. Approvals Approvals Approvals Approvals Approvals re re re re ure s ure s ure Andaman& 1 NicobarIslands 124.26 61.95 143.31 130.20 111.87 210.07 104.78 103.04 207.82 137.64 50.41 106.01 50.31 20.69 2 AndhraPradesh 9878.91 10623.54 13813.72 11225.51 10017.75 9629.63 3034.93 1660.65 4695.58 2347.80 2109.34 1830.10 2312.87 819.01 3 ArunachalPradesh 1499.47 866.50 1953.18 1235.15 1673.69 1132.58 1656.10 1600.91 3257.01 1701.15 1444.15 2564.16 1508.79 726.87 4 Assam 14759.64 13528.31 15723.11 9619.47 11708.03 6941.57 11748.79 11106.50 22855.29 10890.02 12632.54 11295.48 12362.25 6585.95 5 Bihar 40055.33 21303.36 32759.36 22540.24 8218.23 4644.26 38664.68 33139.23 71803.91 22146.29 36599.88 24072.72 37383.69 18342.98 6 Chandigarh 1.72 3.68 1.00 0.00 2.00 0.00 2.00 0.00 2.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 7 Chattisgarh 23430.48 24518.77 23868.88 24813.51 3799.09 4330.25 22054.68 23077.21 45131.89 20372.14 21521.81 20872.60 21521.81 9963.15 Dadra&Nagar 8 Haveli 162.98 101.72 205.93 104.86 182.43 93.47 104.28 104.08 208.36 75.20 169.39 83.93 99.46 41.72 9 Daman&Diu 54.26 36.10 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 - - - - - - - - 10 Delhi 250.55 3.23 131.00 1.65 257.72 1.86 2747.00 2068.94 4815.94 1941.23 3458.08 2354.97 2721.56 744.46 11 Goa 64.40 1.20 1.05 0.06 0.00 0.08 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 12 Gujarat 21286.92 19489.58 23572.12 20925.19 10354.25 8237.40 17014.70 14757.27 31771.96 24825.12 21857.50 16007.05 18180.53 7839.13 13 Haryana 7620.38 5789.35 7404.45 5615.51 7406.07 5087.83 6999.08 6399.52 13398.60 6787.57 12478.64 6475.80 8297.99 3231.95 14 HimachalPradesh 2926.34 3584.41 2751.86 4307.32 1587.24 6345.45 2905.97 6668.99 9574.96 7684.08 3161.84 7793.53 3227.37 255.1415 Jammu&Kashmir 5636.63 3698.54 5612.73 3772.44 4765.81 4936.44 4463.00 3766.83 8229.83 4076.24 4969.42 4694.76 4922.96 2690.23 16 Jharkhand 16867.60 13058.16 19366.75 14056.28 17170.41 13991.61 20223.52 16501.60 36725.12 20697.45 22766.06 22152.44 22887.34 12685.74 17 Karnataka 13965.29 12563.79 16780.91 11848.62 9997.55 7127.02 14114.25 10706.61 24820.86 12498.67 14003.96 11362.98 13039.18 5726.52 18 Kerala 4476.81 4281.02 4902.21 8215.03 1675.38 1501.01 8780.07 7868.19 16648.26 6819.57 8256.54 8533.51 8299.31 5261.94 19 Ladakh 0 0 217.19 175.72 380.38 182.87 358.78 342.33 701.11 342.07 362.87 336.63 362.87 201.00 20 Lakshadweep 28.90 12.55 48.94 22.16 40.08 19.76 32.12 27.40 59.52 23.74 87.66 95.77 89.68 23.40 21 MadhyaPradesh 27142.93 28749.40 31286.42 30051.32 25513.94 27106.79 25995.87 23526.57 49522.44 22966.49 24457.03 23671.80 24497.61 7864.91 22 Maharashtra 30960.99 26305.10 33726.30 29453.97 23022.11 19326.48 27286.40 23078.27 50364.67 22076.58 51277.99 20532.77 38536.73 18069.42 23 Manipur 1350.74 1042.73 1504.71 1021.26 1844.40 925.18 1596.95 1017.29 2614.24 325.13 1581.74 767.26 1402.86 274.19 24 Meghalaya 2719.16 1609.31 2500.27 2209.93 3006.97 2103.33 2074.50 2013.19 4087.69 1810.69 3003.28 2600.41 3271.06 764.89 25 Mizoram 524.07 339.82 523.15 234.17 447.21 302.25 408.56 273.32 681.88 277.57 382.18 361.59 375.24 75.87 26 Nagaland 660.92 365.43 719.66 434.96 639.59 587.38 752.71 382.01 1134.72 486.47 911.43 900.38 979.04 290.42 27 Orissa 17529.30 17732.39 20382.64 20307.07 17151.27 16637.43 18588.92 18855.24 37444.16 19782.08 18979.82 19401.24 20121.47 14304.34 28 Puducherry 48.87 53.29 25.29 45.85 1.17 0.00 147.33 114.30 261.63 118.57 338.87 117.36 303.55 75.99 29 Punjab 6736.01 6430.65 7861.63 5251.67 6530.51 3378.06 6396.10 6962.56 13358.66 6396.10 13085.41 7341.13 9753.76 2653.35 30 Rajasthan 16657.03 12524.14 18908.48 14266.97 16414.77 10390.31 16580.02 10872.31 27452.33 10360.41 6509.90 10125.41 14834.52 2733.12 31 Sikkim 210.08 81.15 231.76 170.38 236.65 139.51 236.34 217.41 453.75 192.93 233.95 173.72 248.97 53.93 32 TamilNadu 764.63 764.33 3157.12 1324.53 5043.06 1692.44 1189.33 1004.85 2194.18 645.84 1208.29 1008.65 1192.97 401.49 33 Telangana 8261.95 5487.42 10153.04 20799.91 10498.26 9029.61 7258.29 7423.22 14681.51 7362.46 7361.72 7361.72 7401.59 1922.85 34 Tripura 2554.76 2400.93 2795.40 2477.67 1483.65 1290.85 3224.98 2844.86 6069.84 2811.32 4541.96 3112.05 3209.88 1944.83 35 UttarPradesh 74246.19 59141.17 85741.26 58653.14 82647.44 51259.26 70868.01 51591.86 122459.87 62698.94 64320.38 56989.55 68393.66 56368.47 36 Uttarakhand 4031.37 2908.60 2086.10 3804.39 6345.54 4115.20 5360.42 3743.46 9103.88 5779.41 5276.19 4846.08 6044.90 3325.37 37 WestBengal 21618.53 15799.30 21615.56 16243.07 3097.15 2463.77 21271.59 15030.66 36302.25 20341.69 25551.77 18922.29 26937.14 10532.11