SHILLONG, JAN 7:
Citing non-payment of incentives for the last six to seven months, the Meghalaya ASHA Workers Union on Tuesday announced that ASHA workers across the state will temporarily suspend work from January 8, 2026, until their pending dues are cleared.
The decision was made public on January 7 after repeated delays in disbursing incentives that ASHA workers are entitled to receive on a regular basis.
Speaking to the media, Sony Kharjana, advisor to the association, said that ASHA workers were originally scheduled to suspend work after December 19, 2025. However, due to the holiday season, the union decided to postpone the agitation and begin the work suspension from January 8.
She informed that Meghalaya has over 7,000 ASHA workers, all of whom have been affected by the delay in incentive payments. According to her, the incentives have not been released for the past six to seven months, which has caused serious hardship to the workers.
Kharjana stated that the delay is reportedly due to changes in the payment system. However, she emphasized that the new payment mechanism should have been resolved within a month and questioned the prolonged delay.
The union has made it clear that the work suspension will continue until all pending incentives are paid to the ASHA workers.