The ongoing strike by Asha (Accredited Social Health Activist) workers outside the Kerala secretariat to demand a wage hike and pending honorarium entered the eleventh day on Thursday.
The Asha workers, who have not received their honorarium of ₹7,000 for three months, feel they have got the short end of the stick at a time when the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) government has hiked the salary of Public Service Commission members by several lakhs.
The ongoing protest has seen Asha workers from across the state gathering outside the secretariat to press for a hike in their honorarium to ₹21,000 per month, withdrawal of the terminating order of Asha workers aged above 62 years and a pension allowance of ₹5 lakh.
There are 26,000 Asha workers in Kerala.
Sunija Bhaskaran, 48, who had come from Akalakunnam panchayat in Kottayam district, told The Telegraph that she was a cancer patient.
“I used to have 18 goats that helped me to earn a livelihood. But I had to sell all of them after my husband’s health started failing and I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. During the pandemic, we Asha workers had a harrowing time taking care of all the families in our wards. The state government did not offer us a penny for our service. How can a family of four live on ₹7,000 per month? I’m yet to start my treatment for want of funds,” she said.
Sarojaya (name changed), 57, has been an Asha worker for the last 17 years. A resident of Parassala on the outskirts of Thiruvananthapuram, Sarojaya told this newspaper that she and thousands of her colleagues were overburdened with work.
“We do all kinds of surveys whenever an epidemic breaks out. Sometimes our superiors ask us to stop a survey midway and start another. This means none of the surveys gets completed. In a way, the health department is hoodwinking people at our expense. Whenever the Left government organises a public programme, they force us to attend it. We neither get paid nor do they provide us any food,” Sarojaya said.
Three days ago, the state health department announced that the two-month honorarium of Asha workers would be released soon, but the payment is still pending.
On Wednesday, health minister Veena George said she was ready to accompany the protesters to New Delhi and hold a demonstration demanding a hike in their honorarium, which angered the Asha workers further.
“How can the minister come up with such a claim when we are working for the state government? The central government’s contribution is only ₹2,000 per month. So what’s the point in us going to Delhi to stage a protest? Will the minister meet our expenses for our trip?” said an Asha worker from Thrissur.
Kerala High Court has received a contempt petition against the Asha workers for blocking the busy MG Road. The plea by Ernakulam resident N. Prakash claimed that the protesters have encroached on the footpath and road in front of the secretariat by placing chairs there. As a result, the footpath has been blocked and vehicular traffic affected.
The petition was heard on Thursday by a bench comprising Chief Justice Nitin Jamdar and Justice S. Manu, who directed the registry to place the matter before the special bench handling such litigation.