Follow TNM's WhatsApp channel for news updates and story links.
Tense scenes unfolded in front of the Chief Minister’s official residence, Cliff House, as Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) workers, who marched towards the premises, clashed with the police on Wednesday, October 22.
Police confiscated the protest microphone, stating that the permitted time for the demonstration had expired. Angered by the move, the protesting workers blocked a police jeep, while CP John, a leader of the Communist Party of India, Marxist (CMP), climbed onto the front seat of the vehicle in protest. Additional police forces were deployed to bring the situation under control.
Following the confrontation, police officials held talks with leaders of the protest committee. According to the committee, officials assured them that an appointment would be arranged with the Chief Minister and that all those detained would be released immediately.
Reacting sharply to the way the Kerala police went on a rampage against the ASHA workers, Leader of Opposition VD Satheesan said the police action is highly undemocratic.
“The ASHA workers’ struggle is for a legitimate demand. The government must withdraw from this fascist approach to handling protests. The Chief Minister and the government should put aside unnecessary stubbornness and ego and be ready for dialogue with the ASHA workers. Immediate steps should be taken to reach a settlement in the ongoing ASHA workers' protest, which has now been continuing for eight months,” added Satheesan.
The ASHA workers, led by the Kerala ASHA Health Workers Association (KAHWA), had been staging a sit-in outside the state secretariat since the start of their protest early this year. They demand adequate honorariums and post-retirement benefits, escalating their agitation on Wednesday, when President Droupadi Murmu was on a four-day state visit.
The ASHA workers had recently brought their woes before President Murmu through a representation.
Their key demands include increasing their state-paid honorarium from Rs 7,000 to Rs 21,000 per month and providing a post-retirement benefit of Rs 5 lakh. The agitation comes after a state government-appointed committee recommending, in August, a modest increase of Rs 3,000 in the honorarium and a post-retirement benefit of Rs 1 lakh, far short of the workers' demands.
With IANS inputs