Coronavirus: ASHA healthcare workers in India share their stories of abuse and discrimination

The female caregivers are mistreated due to fears they are government informers

Health workers in India have described how they have been abused, overworked and mistreated by patients as they battle to help control the spread of coronavirus.

Kiran, not her real name, is part of the million-strong Accredited Social Health Activists better known as ASHA workers throughout the country

Created in 2005 this all-women army, notable in their bright red or pink outfits are a crucial link between the government's public health services and the country's rural population.

Prior to COVID-19, they were entrusted with dozens of tasks including checks on maternal mortality and malnourishment in children, vaccinations and family planning.

Now they play a vital role in fighting coronavirus in rural India. They have been made responsible for contact tracing and ensuring infected people quarantine.

But many have suffered attacks from those who see them as government informers who snitch on people. Patients with COVID-19 are then often taken to poor quality quarantine facilities and their families discriminated against.

Each ASHA worker is in charge of 1,000 to 1,500 people in villages and semi-urban areas.

They check oxygen levels, monitor patients' heart rates, screen for fever, survey and track the rural population and give advice on COVID-19 precautions. Their mandate is to keep the country's rural population healthy and pandemic free. Many ASHA workers have got infected on the job while dozens are reported to have succumbed to the pandemic.

Ignored, mistreated and overworked they are now fighting back.

Over 600,000 workers protested across the country for better pay and protection.

At the civil hospital in Sonipat dozens take turns in their time off to show dissent.

"We are the first to face positive cases, we do it without any protection, no treatment if we fall ill, no sympathy from the government, it's very difficult for us to work and out of sheer helplessness we are protesting", Sunita Rani said. India has the highest rate of infection anywhere in the world. With millions of cases the virus has spread to every corner of the country. The worry is that in smaller towns and in rural villages the public health care system is woefully inadequate. For decades the Indian government has spent just over 1% of the GDP on public health care. A severe challenge by the pandemic can cause a collapse to this overstretched system and its creaking infrastructure. While more than 70% of the population are forced to choose to private health care which is expensive, an illness can easily push a family into poverty. ASHA workers are vital in the nation's fight not only against the pandemic but also keeping its rural population healthy. Now, more than ever India needs this army of women frontline workers.