BehanVox: The Long Road ASHA Workers Have Travelled Since 2005
This week in BehanVox: a theatrical tribute to a trans actor in Chennai, sanitation workers' protest, vote chori allegations, and more
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Hello and welcome back to BehanVox! After a mid-year break we are back with your favourite newsletter. The 79th Independence Day celebrations brought us promises of a ‘defence blanket’ to secure the country from cross-border hostilities. But there are other kinds of violence too that we need to be shielded from. The last 10 days have witnessed a steady flow of reports on casteist, communal and gender violence from across the country. We will be addressing many of these issues in the coming days. This week we bring you a great interview from an ASHA veteran on how the remarkable cadre of frontline health-workers evolved over the decades. And a report on an unusual theatrical tribute to a trans actor in Chennai.
Story So Far
Since childhood Lakshmi Kaurav had dreamt of becoming a doctor. So in 2005, when she heard that a new cadre of frontline health workers was being set up, she thought she would somehow inch closer to her ambition. She was allowed to study only up to the 10th grade and at the very least, this job would allow her to study without asking anyone for money.
This was the year the ASHA programme was launched by the government with no clear idea of the contours it was to later acquire. “At that time, there weren’t even proper forms to apply, and it was done by submitting a basic motion during the gram panchayat meeting. In my case, my chacha (uncle) and sasurji (father-in-law) were panchayat leaders and they submitted a proposal, noting that I am 10th pass. The panchayat agreed and that’s how my name was picked,” she recalls.
The selected women would then be interviewed by an NGO assigned for the task of recruiting and asked to take an oath. “If someone could write clearly and quickly, it was assumed they were capable enough to be an ASHA worker. If someone couldn’t write but had no other competitors in their village – because not many wanted to do this work – they’d still be selected,” Lakshmi remembers.
A lot has changed since then. The ASHA work profile has expanded several fold – from the basic tasks of ensuring maternal and child welfare to now assisting in the election process and doing critical groundwork during emergencies like the pandemic. All the issues that once seemed acceptable – being called volunteers, not being on government rolls, being paid paltry money and with no avenue for welfare benefits – are now deeply hurtful for ASHA workers.
Lakshmi today leads ASHA workers as a union leader, leading protests, representing them on national and international forums and giving their grievances a strong voice. But it has been a tumultuous two decades for her and the cadres. In our ASHA Project series, we interview Lakshmi to document these decades and what changed and what has to change. In the process we discovered some fascinating insights into what it was to be a worker in a freshly minted cadre all those years ago. There was little or no training, workers walked into the field and slowly figured out their roles, their mission was misunderstood, they dealt with suspicious community members, and struggled to communicate with villagers about family planning and other sensitive issues.
“We were expected to motivate both women and men to consider sterilisation, use contraceptive devices, oral pills, and condoms. Training mein yeh cheezein sunne mein sharam aa rahi thi. I was still one of the more educated women there so I didn’t feel too embarrassed but the other women – some of them covered their faces with their saris, looked down, or put their hands over their mouths,” Lakshmi remembers. Then there were domestic responsibilities and family opposition to deal with.
But Lakshmi is now a confident organiser and motivator, at the forefront of the collectivisation efforts of the ASHA community. Saumya Kalia interviews her on the long road ASHA workers have travelled since 2005, both personal and professional.
Read our interview here.
Mainstream theatre in India hardly ever opens up its spaces to actors from the trans community. Kerala and Tamil Nadu have made some pioneering efforts in the last few years. In June, Kattiyakari, the Chennai-based theatre group that engages members of the queer community, transwomen, sex workers and other allies hosted the Dayamma Theatre Festival. Dedicated to the memory of the late Dayamma, a trans elder who was known for her passionate engagement with theatre and humanitarian work, it put together an eclectic show which broke quite a few creative boundaries. And brought back to the city the memories of an unflinching, colourful persona who made sure to feed and care for those who were hungry, disadvantaged and marginalised.
Read our story here.
Talking Point
Protesting Sanitation Workers Evicted: In a midnight swoop on Wednesday, Chennai police evicted hundreds of sanitation workers protesting the privatisation of solid waste management in a couple of city zones. Earlier in the day the Madras High Court had permitted the state to remove the agitating workers. The protestors are veteran contractual workers, mostly women, who are demanding regularisation of their jobs. Activists say the protestors are being denied access to food and sanitation.
Spiral Of Violence: A 21-year-old Muslim, Suleman Rahim Khan, 21, was lynched in front of his family in Maharashtra. A resident of Chhoti Betawad village in Jamner taluka, the accused allege, was caught in the company of a 17-year-old girl from another community. The assailants attacked him across locations before assaulting him fatally in the village.
Women Own Sports: The number of women investing in professional sports through team ownership is rising in numbers. From the US-based Women’s National Basketball Association to the National Women’s Soccer League, women owners are changing the power dynamics in sports and making a difference to the careers of women athletes on and off the court.
Track Trouble: Women joggers across the world have complained about being harassed by men on streets, parks and trails. In a police operation in Surrey, UK, women officers in running gear buttonholed men who misbehaved, resulting in as many as 18 arrests for offences such as harassment, sexual assault and theft.
BehanVox Recommends
Caste and Elevators: In this long read, Nolina Minj documents the phenomenon of segregated elevators in Mumbai. As workers or deliverymen struggle with crowded service lifts, scholars point to the violation of workers’ rights.
Electoral Process: Investigative journalist Poonam Agarwal, who has focussed on mapping irregularities in India’s electoral process, talks to Article14 about Rahul Gandhi’s allegations on “vote chori (theft)” and the importance of free and fair elections.
Photographing War: For the Los Angeles Review of Books, Mary Turfah writes on the war in Gaza, the limits of the photograph, the ethics of photographing children in times of conflict.
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