Several Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) gathered in front of the Kerala Secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday, May 21, to celebrate the United Democratic Front (UDF) government’s decision to increase their monthly honorarium by Rs 3,000.
The programme titled ‘ASHA Keralam Vijaya Pathayil’ featured a meeting and a small rally to thank the government for fulfilling the assurance given to the workers during their 266-day agitation held at the same spot last year.
ASHAs from various districts assembled in front of the Secretariat, where they had staged a round-the-clock protest from February to November 2025, demanding that the previous LDF government raise their honorarium from Rs 8,000 to Rs 21,000.
Congress MP Kodikunnil Suresh and RSP MP NK Premachandran participated in the rally along with several others. Hundreds of ASHA workers attended the programme, cheered the speakers, and later joined the march.
The celebrations also saw the workers cooking payasam on a temporary stove arranged on the pavement in front of the Secretariat and serving it to those who attended the event. ASHA workers later honoured volunteers who stood with the protest by presenting them with shawls.
Although the government has announced a Rs 3,000 hike, the workers’ demand to raise the honorarium to Rs 21,000 remains unmet. However, many of them expressed hope that further increases would be considered in the future.
Actor Prem Kumar, who attended the programme, said the previous government had ignored and mocked the protesting ASHA workers and as a result it had been “swept away by the tears of ASHA workers”. He also claimed that the election verdict reflected public anger against those who overlooked the agitation.
Prem Kumar alleged that his support for the ASHA workers’ agitation cost him his position in the Film Academy.
Earlier when VD Satheesan was the Opposition leader he had promised to increase the honorarium if UDF came to power. Later when he formed the government, the first Cabinet meeting raised the wages of ASHA workers by Rs 3,000.