Have you ever been mistreated?

Calling names, slighting remarks; ASHA workers had a lot on their plate to deal with amid pandemic

Asha workers are working as frontline health staff since the start of the pandemic. Tribune photo

Aakanksha N Bhardwaj

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, April 8

They were called names, people insulted them by saying they were bringing virus, and were labelled as the government’s spy, ASHA workers have had to soak in numerous slighting remarks throughout the pandemic. A few days ago, the workers held a massive protest against the government for giving them their dues. Besides dealing with problems on the field, they were suffering personal problems too. There are a lot of tales that expose the ground realities and challenges in their work.

When everyone was confined to their homes at the start of the pandemic, ASHA workers were entrusted with the task to visit homes and ask people if they were feeling alright or showing any symptoms but the workers said that they had to go through ‘torture’ as people didn’t see them as help.

Asha worker Gurjeet Kaur (49), who tested positive recently, is the sole earner in her family. After the death of her husband, she has been looking after her aged in-laws on her own. Kaur’s son, who is into menial jobs, is also facing troubles because of the pandemic.

Kaur said she is the supervisor of ASHA workers and covers 20 villages. “I have so many problems in my personal life. I am still recovering from the virus. I remember that I was holding my six-month-old granddaughter when I felt uneasiness and then got myself tested, and when the report came positive, I was shattered. I suddenly got worried for my granddaughter. These are the emotions that we go through,” she shared.

Kaur is already dealing with various issues in her personal life. And haunting flashbacks of past year keep coming back; she likes to term that time as a “complete horror”. “People would shut doors on our faces, would mistreat us even though we all were doing our jobs, but it has been a really tough year like never before,” she said.

Amritpal, ASHA worker from Nussi village in Jalandhar married off her daughters with much difficulty and said she is the lone bread winner as her husband, a labourer, doesn’t support her much. “We live on this meager income. All this never felt that difficult since the pandemic hit us. ‘log saanu kehnde si ki etho jaao, tusi hi coronavirus laike aande ho’, can you believe how bad we would have felt at that time? No one can and ever will,” she concluded.