Kerala government removes performance-linked conditions for ASHAs to receive full honorarium

Published 4 August 2026 · india

The Kerala government has issued a new order removing the performance-linked conditions that prevented some Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) from receiving their full honorarium

The Kerala government has issued a new order removing the performance-linked conditions that prevented some Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) from receiving their full honorarium. The order, issued on Tuesday, represents a significant concession by the State government as removal of the performance-linked criteria attached to the payment of honorarium had been one of the long-standing demands of ASHAs. Earlier, under a government order (GO) dated March 2025, the State had relaxed the conditions for the payment of honorarium to ASHAs from the State Budget and had amended the conditions linked to the payment of fixed incentive.

In June 2026, the government had amended this GO further by allowing medical officers to certify cases where ASHAs were unable to meet the targets because of factors beyond their control, such as working in areas with very few pregnant women or children, and permitted them to receive the full honorarium on the basis of such certification. The government reconsidered the issue yet again following a representation from the Kerala ASHA Health Workers Association (KAHWA) seeking the withdrawal of that order. With the new GO dated August 4, the government has now fully removed the requirement that ASHAs have to earn ₹500 as performance incentive in order to receive the full honorarium or that they need a certification from the medical officer to receive the full honorarium.

The KAHWA, which led the strike by ASHAs demanding an increase in honorarium, had consistently highlighted the fact that their monthly honorarium was contingent on their fulfilling certain performance indicators and that these performance -linked criteria were often influenced by demographic realities beyond the workers’ control. Though the government had attempted to ease this hurdle by asking the medical officers to certify these facts for ASHAs, the KAHWA had represented to the government that this provision be removed as it involved many administrative hassles.

The government has now removed both performance-linked criteria as well as the need for certification from medical officers so that ASHAs’ honorarium payment is no longer tied to any criteria.