JAMMU: National Health Mission on Thursday presented awards to the best functionaries of ASHA Programme in the UT of J&K. A total of 108 best ASHAs, ASHA Facilitators, Block ASHA Coordinators, District ASHA Coordinators, State Trainers besides Block and District Programme Management Units bagged best functionary awards in recognition of their outstanding contribution towards making ASHA Programme and Centrally Sponsored Schemes a huge success in the UT of J&K.
The awards comprise Appreciation Certificates and cash reward worth Rs. 5000 per functionary which were presented by the respective District Development Commissioners in all the districts on the eve of 74thRepublic Day. .
Sanjiv M Gadkar, MD, NHM J&K, while giving details, informed that two ASHAs per district, two ASHA facilitators per division, three Block ASHA Coordinators per division, one district ASHA Coordinator per division and one UT ASHA Trainer per division have been awarded for being best achievers in their respective field. In addition, one District Programme Manager, one District Accounts Manager and 1 District Monitoring and Evaluation Officer, two Block Monitoring Evaluation Officers and two Block Accounts Managers per division have been selected for awards for their best performance.
Pertinently, ASHA Programme being implemented by NHM, J&K, is a bridge between the Health Department and the community. All the health schemes of NHM/J&K Government are being implemented by ASHAs and their Cadres at the grass root level. ASHA is a link through which the health care needs of the people are being catered.
Recognizing their importance for health care delivery at ground level and also during the COVID-19 pandemic, Bhupinder Kumar, Secretary, Health and Medical Education decided to present the best achievers awards for boosting the morale of ASHAs and ASHA Cadres in the UT of J&K.
At present, about 13000 ASHAs and ASHA Cadres have been working in the UT of J&K and about 300 officials of Programme Management Units are working at block and district level.

KR Desk