“Running the System on Pennies”: Sonia Gandhi Flags Plight of ASHA, Anganwadi Workers in RS

December 16, 2025

New Delhi: Former Congress president and Rajya Sabha MP Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday drew attention to the daily struggles of millions of women frontline workers who keep India’s public health and nutrition systems running, saying they are made to “work for a pittance” despite shouldering enormous responsibilities.

Raising the issue during Zero Hour, Gandhi urged urgent reforms for ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activists), Anganwadi workers and helpers, and community resource persons under the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM), calling them the backbone of several key government schemes.

“Overburdened, Underpaid, Undervalued”

Sonia Gandhi described these initiatives as critical to women’s empowerment and community welfare, but said the workers involved remain overworked and inadequately paid. ASHA workers, though officially classified as volunteers, perform crucial duties such as immunisation drives, maternal care, and family welfare services, yet receive meagre honorariums with little social security.

Low Pay, Huge Vacancies in ICDS

Highlighting the condition of Anganwadi workers under the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), Gandhi said they receive around ₹4,500 per month, while helpers get about ₹2,250 from the Centre, with uneven top-ups by states. She pointed to nearly three lakh vacancies across ICDS nationwide, leaving lakhs of women and children without access to nutrition, health check-ups and early education. She also flagged that staffing norms still rely on outdated 2011 census data, ignoring population growth.

Five-Point Push for Reform

Calling for stronger Centre–state coordination, Gandhi outlined five key steps: filling all vacancies immediately, ensuring timely payment, doubling the Centre’s honorarium contribution, appointing more ASHA workers in villages with populations above 2,500, and expanding Anganwadi staffing to strengthen early childhood education alongside nutrition and health services. Strengthening this workforce, she said, is an investment in India’s future, especially maternal and child health.

Her remarks come amid ongoing protests by ASHA and Anganwadi workers across states, who continue to demand employee status, minimum wages and better social security.