• Dr. Ramya.S

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the deep structural vulnerabilities of India’s public health infrastructure, particularly in rural and semi-urban contexts. Amidst systemic failures, Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) emerged as de facto leaders in navigating public health crises at the grassroots. Despite their crucial roles in contact tracing, community sensitization, and managing access to essential health services, ASHA workers continue to occupy the margins of leadership recognition within institutional governance frameworks. Their leadership, embedded in gendered expectations of care work and community mediation, remains largely invisible in mainstream policy narratives and organizational leadership discourses. This paper presents a sociological critique of leadership invisibilization by examining how ASHA workers negotiated power, authority, and community trust amidst structural constraints during and after the pandemic. Drawing upon empirical data from government reports, field studies, and grassroots testimonies from Karnataka, the study interrogates the gendered division of labor that frames ASHAs as voluntary caregivers rather than formal leaders. The analysis situates ASHA leadership within frameworks of gendered governance (Goetz, 1997), emotional labor (Hochschild, 1983), and informal authority (Scott, 1990) to challenge dominant hierarchies of leadership valorization in public health management. Furthermore, the paper critiques how policy architectures systematically devalue community-based leadership practices, while romanticizing narratives of resilience and frontline heroism without corresponding structural support. By foregrounding ASHA workers’ experiences, this study argues for an expanded, sociologically grounded definition of leadership that accounts for informal, relational, and gendered modalities of governance operating within India's disrupted public health landscapes. In doing so, the paper contributes to re-theorizing leadership beyond managerial or positional paradigms, emphasizing the need to institutionalize recognition, representation, and resource redistribution for grassroots women health workers. This reconceptualization is pivotal not only for equitable governance but also for building resilient, community-centered health systems capable of responding to future disruptions.

Keywords: ASHA Workers, Invisible Leadership, Gendered Governance, Public Health Systems, Crisis Management

"Invisible Leadership amongst ASHA Workers and Gendered Governance in Post-Pandemic Public Health in Karnataka", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.13, Issue 1, page no.d327-d334, January-2026, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2601336.pdf

"Invisible Leadership amongst ASHA Workers and Gendered Governance in Post-Pandemic Public Health in Karnataka", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.13, Issue 1, page no. ppd327-d334, January-2026, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2601336.pdf