On 23 September 2026, the Delhi government approved doubling the fixed monthly incentive paid to Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) workers, increasing it from ₹3,000 to ₹6,000 per month. ASHA workers are community-based frontline health workers engaged under the Government of India’s National Health Mission and function as a bridge between the public health system and local communities. While they are generally classified as volunteers and receive performance-based incentives and honoraria rather than regular government employee salaries, they work within and support the public health system.
The decision was taken at a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Rekha Gupta and is expected to benefit all 6,725 ASHA workers currently engaged across the National Capital Territory. Existing performance-based and other incentive payments available to ASHA workers will continue unchanged. According to media reports, the government described the enhancement as part of its commitment to strengthening frontline community health services and improving support for ASHA workers, who play a critical role in public health outreach and service delivery.
The decision thus improves the financial sustainability and predictability of resources available to a large cadre of community-level health workers who underpin civil society-adjacent welfare work. The state’s investment in and recognition of community-based, public interest work carried out at grassroots level also signals an important acknowledgement that can feed into a broader public and policy conversation on formally recognising and resourcing community-based health and social workers as part of a functioning civil society ecosystem. The decision responds to longstanding demands raised by ASHA associations, unions, and advocacy groups regarding remuneration and social protection for frontline workers that can be built on for similar advocacies in other parts of the country and for other worker groups.