ASHAs get honorarium, festival allowance ahead of Onam for first time; ₹33.54 crore released

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala has disbursed the August honorarium and festival allowance for Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) ahead of Onam, clearing payments before the festival for the first time, Health, Family Welfare and Devaswom Minister K. Muraleedharan said.

The government paid ₹12,000 as the August honorarium and ₹1,450 as a festival allowance to each ASHA worker.

A total of ₹33.54 crore has been released across the state, comprising ₹29.93 crore towards honorariums and ₹3.61 crore for festival allowances.

Muraleedharan said ASHA workers would celebrate Onam without any pending honorarium payments.

“In previous years, ASHA workers received the honorarium for the preceding month around Onam. This year, although Onam arrived before the end of August, the government has paid the full honorarium without any conditions before the festival,” he said.

The minister said the government had prioritised addressing concerns raised by frontline health workers and removing obstacles that delayed the payment of honorariums and other benefits.

The payment follows the UDF government’s decision to raise the monthly honorarium for ASHA workers by ₹3,000, from ₹9,000 to ₹12,000.

The increase was announced at the new government’s first Cabinet meeting as part of its commitments to frontline health workers.

The government has also removed performance-linked conditions that had previously prevented some ASHA workers from receiving the full honorarium.