Table 1.

Role of Various Frontline Health Workers

Health personnel	ASHA	ANM	AWW
About	Consists of community health workers instituted by the government of India’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare as part of the National Rural Health Mission.	Consists of village-level female health workers in India who serve as the first contact between the community and the health services. Regarded as grass-roots workers in the health organization pyramid.	Anganwadi means “courtyard shelter” in Indian languages. Started by the Indian government in 1975 as part of the Integrated Child Development Services program to combat child hunger and malnutrition.
Type of compensation	Local volunteers receive outcome-based remuneration and financial compensation	Permanent or contractual salaried health manpower	Salaried manpower under Department of Women and Child Development
Level of education	Minimum eighth standard pass	Auxiliary nurse midwife nursing course	10 + 2
Training status	7 training modules under National Health Mission. ANM acts as a resource for the training of ASHAs.	Nursing course and various health programs trainings	Job training course and refresher trainings through Anganwadi training center
Major job profile	Work as first port of call for health and act as a link between community and health department. Provide health information to community, counsel and mobilize community for health services. Act as a depot holder for key drugs and logistics.	Work at health subcentres. Expected to be multipurpose health workers. Work includes maternal and child health along with family planning services, health and nutrition education, efforts for maintaining environmental sanitation, immunization, control of communicable diseases, treatment of minor injuries, and first aid in emergencies and disasters.	Work includes conducting regular quick surveys of all families, organizing preschool activities, providing health and nutrition education to families, especially pregnant women on how to breastfeed, motivating families to adopt family planning, educating parents about child growth and development, providing supplementary nutrition to children aged <6 years and pregnant women, educating teenage girls and parents by organizing social awareness programs, etc.
Population served	One worker for 1000 population	One worker for 5000 population in plains and 3000 population in hilly and tribal areas	One worker for 1000 population

Abbreviations: ANM, Auxiliary Nurse Midwives; AHSA, Accredited Social Health Activists; AWW, Anganwadi Workers.