Recognising care work(ers): A feminist legal examination of ASHAs
- Economic & Political Weekly
- 59(26), 29 Jun, 2024: p.46-51
Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs), despite being key frontline workers whose visibility increased during the pandemic, are not formally categorized as workers, leaving them without entitlements and social security benefits. This paper reviews legal judgments and public policy discourses to interrogate the conceptualization of ASHAs within the intersections of women’s unpaid care work and the law. The trajectory of recognition has been uneven, evolving from volunteer status to a proposed “worker,” yet many demands remain unmet. The study argues for a feminist re-imagination of care work to ensure equitable recognition, rights, and protections for ASHAs, highlighting broader implications for women’s labour in India. Despite being key “frontline” workers, made even more visible by the pandemic, accredited social health activists are not categorised as workers, denying them many entitlements and social security benefits. This paper reviews legal judgments and public policy discourses, locating them in the interstices of women’s unpaid care work and the law, to interrogate the conceptualisation of the ASHA. The terrain of legal recognition has been uneven for ASHAs, with the journey beginning from volunteer to a proposed “worker.” However, many of their demands remain unfulfilled, for which this paper proposes a feminist re-imagination of care work.- Reproduced
Women – India, Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs), Frontline Workers, Care Work, Legal Recognition, Social Security, Public Policy, Feminist Perspective, Unpaid Labour, Pandemic Visibility, Worker Categorisation