Cabinet Approves Hike In Honorarium For ASHA & Anganwadi Workers

New Delhi: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on Wednesday approved a hike in the honorarium for Anganwadi and ASHA workers which will become effective next month.

An Anganwadi worker will now get a monthly honorarium of Rs 4,500 per month instead of Rs 3,000 earlier. The Anganwadi helper will get Rs 2,250 per month in place of Rs 1,500, the Cabinet informed in a statement.

An Anganwadi worker at a mini Anganwadi centre will get Rs 3,500 a month instead of Rs 2,250.

Anganwadi helpers will get an additional incentive of Rs 250, according to the monthly performance and for facilitating proper functioning of Anganwadi centres.

The enhanced rate of honorarium and performance linked incentive will be effective from October 1 year and will cost Rs 10,649 crore for the period between October 1, 2018 to March 31, 2020.

ASHA workers will 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).

According to a Government release, “Around 27 lakh Anganwadi workers and helpers will be benefitted. Anganwadi services (umbrella Integrated Child Development Scheme) is a universal scheme and beneficiaries are spread all over the country.”

This programme 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.

The Anganwadi services (ICDS) aim at holistic development of children under the age of six years and pregnant women and lactating mothers.