Kolkata

Several ASHA workers were on Wednesday detained, while they were on their way to the headquarters of the state’s health department near Kolkata to take part in a march to press for demands, including a hike in the minimum monthly honorarium, police said.

The protesting Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA), who have been on a ‘cease-work’ since December 23, were detained from various districts in the state, as a precautionary measure, they said.

A section of the agitators claimed that police set up barricades outside Sealdah and Howrah railway stations, where they arrived in trains from several districts since early morning.

Some were seen squatting on the plaforms at these railway stations.

“We have been prevented from exiting the Howrah station since 6.30 am,” an ASHA worker from Paschim Dinajpur claimed.

A number of agitators were also detained from near the ‘Swasthya Bhawan’, the health department headquarters, in the morning, where they had assembled to intensify their protest, a police officer said.

The agitating ASHA workers had earlier marched to the ‘Swasthya Bhawan’ on January 8, followed by another protest demonstration on January 12, seeking a meeting with senior health officials over their long-pending demand for a fixed monthly salary instead of performance-linked allowances.

The ASHA workers’ demands include a minimum monthly honorarium of Rs 15,000 and insurance cover of Rs 5 lakh in case of death on duty.

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Meanwhile, security has been tightened in and around ‘Swasthya Bhawan’ in Salt Lake near Kolkata, and traffic movement regulated, an official said.

West Bengal’s Minister of State for Health Chandrima Bhattacharya had on Tuesday advised the protesters against marching to ‘Swasthya Bhawan’, citing law and order concerns.