Working on a petty honorarium, the ASHA workers have been sacrificing their precious time and energy for building a healthy Bihar.
Besides taking expecting mothers for institutional
deliveries, providing pre-natal and post-natal care, distributing medicines in
association with the Anganwadis, conducting the Rainbow immunization programme,
conducting pulse polio programmes, campaigning for family planning, encouraging
village people to participate in sanitation drives, conducting awareness about
the importance of dry toilets and fresh potable water, creating awareness
regarding nutrition for pregnant and lactating mothers, breast feeding and
child care, proper use of contraceptives and proper personal hygiene, etc. have
to be managed by the ASHA workers. The work done by the ASHA workers’ demands a
24x7 work schedule. Many times, they have to go in the darkness of night to transport
pregnant women for deliveries to the primary health centre. This is extremely
risky because the woman might deliver on the way and there would be no
facility. Often the ASHA worker has to awaken the doctors and nurses at the
PHC, clean the place and even make arrangements for illumination if electricity
is unavailable. Sometimes, if there is a complication which cannot be managed
by the PHC staff, the ASHA worker has to take the woman to a nearby hospital
and wait there till she is admitted and the child delivered.
