Mothers of Mercy: Life of ASHA workers during the pandemic

ASHA worker Reena Jani accepts her neighbour’s help—a ride to Mathalput Community Health Centre. As a‌ frontline‌ ‌health‌ ‌worker, Jani was one of the early Indians to get inoculated against Covid-19 virus. She had heard rumours of serious side effects from the vaccine and was filled with fright. “If something happens to me, what will my children do?" Jani asked.

Healthcare workers walk among a brick kiln to administer the Covid-19 vaccine to kiln workers at Kavitha village on the outskirts of Ahmedabad, India on April 8, 2021. ‌India was entirely dependent on ASHA workers to make the world's biggest vaccination drive against the coronavirus pandemic a success in rural parts of the nation.

Leaving their vehicle behind upon finding the road blocked by a landslide, healthcare workers—with two blue vaccine boxes slung over their shoulders—trek to remote villages on a vaccination drive near Malana in Kullu district, Himachal Pradesh, September 14, 2021. ASHA workers are neither doctors nor nurses, but they are trained to bridge the healthcare gap where such services are hard to reach.

Deferential to custom but unbowed by her veil, ASHA worker Geeta Chaudry registers vaccine recipients at a vaccination clinic in Aakhtadi of Tonk District in Rajasthan on May 17, 2021. India's devastating wave of Covid-19 infections had gripped cities and overwhelmed urban health resources. But it also struck deep in rural India, where the extent of the devastation was unknown because of the lack of widespread testing or reliable data despite the best efforts by health workers.

Matilda Kullu’s day begins at 5am, preparing lunch for her family of four and feeding the cattle at Gargadbahal village of Odisha’s Sundargarh district. Then Kullu hops on her cycle for door-to-door visits among the 964 people, mostly tribal, in her role as an ASHA worker. It took years for Kullu to educate the villagers who would rather perform black magic to treat an illness than visit a doctor or hospital. Even worse, as a Scheduled tribe herself, Kullu had to face casteism and untouchability on her door to door visits. November 24, 2021. (To know more about Kullu's story click here)

Manobesh Mondol, a fisherman, receives a dose of Covishield vaccine from health workers during the "Vaccination on boat" programme in Bali Island, West Bengal, India, July 12, 2021. The residents of the Bay of Bengal delta endure all the miseries Nature throws at them—from cyclones to erosion. But the pandemic shook the region until the healthcare workers reached them with the vaccine.

ASHA workers clean the blue vaccine carriers used for vaccine transport at a primary health centre in Hyderabad on January 29, 2021. As‌ ‌volunteers,‌ ‌their‌ work hours remain ‌flexible‌ ‌and‌ ‌many‌ ASHA workers prefer ‌a‌ ‌part-time‌ ‌job as it lets‌ ‌them‌ ‌take‌ ‌care‌ ‌of‌ ‌their‌ ‌domestic‌ ‌responsibilities.‌ ‌However,‌ in reality, their ‌work‌ hours extend ‌way‌ beyond ‌the‌ daily 2 to 3‌ ‌hours‌ ‌suggested‌ ‌in the‌ ASHA ‌guidelines.

ASHA workers admonish wily teenagers roaming without face masks during a screening survey for coronavirus in Pandav Nagar, New Delhi on June 26, 2020. By July 2020, authorities had begun a mammoth screening campaign covering all households to check people for signs of Covid-19. ASHA workers and staff from the civic bodies were drafted for screening and setting up new control rooms to coordinate measures.

A health worker stretches herself to vaccinate an elderly woman through the car’s window at a drive-in vaccination program in the parking lot of a shopping mall in Kolkata on June 4, 2021. Dozens of health workers died during the pandemic after exposure to the coronavirus, in part because they lacked protective gear. One study of three Indian states by public health researchers at Oxfam in 2020 found that at least 25 percent of the health workers received no masks, and only 62 percent received gloves.

Sunitha K N, an ASHA worker, readies to leave home for work in Mysuru, Karnataka, on May 18, 2021. The health workers earn around Rs 3,000 monthly, plus incentives based on performance. An ASHA worker looks after at least 200 households. Hence, most ASHAs belong to the village or block they reside in and know every household—gaining the trust of the community over time.

The searing summer heat wasn’t the only deterrent for the ASHA workers Santosh Godara, Poonam Kumawat, and Suman Mahedra, who were conducting an awareness campaign and survey to contact trace possible coronavirus cases in Alakhpura, Sikar District, Rajasthan on May 21, 2021. ASHA workers face suspicion and angry threats from villagers who are superstitious, in denial of the existence of the virus or simply, vaccine-hesitant.

ASHA workers Nirmala, Alka, and Meenakshi talk to a resident during a door-to-door survey after the government eased a nationwide lockdown in Bahadarpur village, Meerut district, Uttar Pradesh on June 9, 2020.‌ Their work during the pandemic ‌involved‌ ‌registering the address and ‌verifying‌ the ‌IDs‌ ‌(details‌ ‌such‌ ‌as‌ Aadhaar‌ ‌card‌ ‌numbers‌ ‌and‌ ‌names)‌ ‌of‌ ‌migrant workers‌ ‌returning‌ ‌to‌ the ‌villages‌ ‌in‌ ‌the‌ ‌early‌ ‌months‌ ‌of‌ ‌the‌ pandemic‌ ‌and‌ following up on ‌those‌ ‌with‌ ‌travel‌ ‌history‌ ‌who took ill.‌‌

An ASHA worker administers polio drops to a kid during the door to door drive in Gurugram on September 27, 2021. In addition to Covid-19 duties, these workers performed ‌their‌ ‌regular‌ work‌, ‌including ‌assisting‌ ‌deliveries,‌ ‌immunisation‌ ‌drives,‌ ‌sterilisation‌ ‌camps‌ ‌and‌ ‌staffing‌ ‌the‌ Public Health Centres.

ASHA and Anganwadi workers protest against the Government over the delay in releasing their salaries at Civil Lines, New Delhi on February 22, 2022. These are the health warriors who battled the Covid-19 pandemic on the ground, yet, their enduring struggle for decent wages and timely compensation continues.