NEW DELHI: Hailing the role of grassroots workers who can be change agents for a malnourished child or an anaemic mother or a pregnant woman, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced a significant hike in monthly honorarium and incentives of anganwadi and Asha workers.The Prime Minister laid emphasis on redoubling efforts to reduce anaemia-related illness in the country by three times, the reduction rate of which currently stands at only one per cent.The increase in benefits is expected to reach lakhs of outreach workers, mostly women, who can also be seen as a political constituency as well as important elements of the Centre’s welfare programme.The PM’s announcements came during a video bridge interaction with lakhs of Asha, anganwadi and ANM workers on Tuesday. Modi also announced additional incentives for anganwadi workers and helpers using software for capturing data on weight, height and development of a child.The incentives ranging from Rs 250 to Rs 500, would be based on performance.The announcement for anganwadi workers and helpers means their honorarium will go up from Rs 3,000 to Rs 4,500. Those getting Rs 2,200 will now get Rs 3,500. Helpers will get Rs 2,259 instead of Rs 1,500. Incentives of Asha workers and helpers will be doubled and they will be provided a free insurance cover worth Rs 2 lakh each under the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana and Prime Minister Suraksha Bima Yojana.There are around 14 lakh anganwadis or child care centres and 10 crore beneficiaries, including children under age six, pregnant women and lactating mothers.There are a total of 12,83,707 anganwadi workers and 10,50,564 helpers. Women and child development minister Maneka Gandhi said the government’s efforts to eliminate fake beneficiaries had resulted in one crore such entries being deleted.Lauding the PM’s decision, BJP president Amit Shah tweeted,“Modi government’s decision will not only motivate but also improve quality of life of Asha and anganwadi workers and their helpers who are the strongest grassroots linkage in the chain to provide health and nutrition facilities to women and children.”Reacting to the decision, women and child development minister Maneka Gandhi said, “The honorarium of anganwadi workers and anganwadi helpers is being increased by 1½ times from the existing amount. This will boost their morale and help improve the delivery of services by the frontline workers and help to achieve the goal of Poshan Abhiyan,” Gandhi added.