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The slogan ‘No vote for the government that insulted ASHA workers,’ went from door-to-door in Kerala’s Nilambur Assembly constituency where bye-polls will be held on June 19. The slogan was raised by Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) as a part of their ongoing 124-day agitation against the state government demanding better salaries and retirement benefits.
The ASHA workers from Nilambur will continue this campaign until voting day, according to S Mini, vice president of the Kerala ASHA Health Workers’ Association (KAHWA). KAHWA is the union leading the ASHA protests.
The protests began on February 10 outside the state’s Secretariat. They are demanding an increase in their monthly honorarium from Rs 7,000 to Rs 21,000. They also want a retirement benefit of Rs 5 lakh to be paid at the age of 62, and other social security measures including pensions. Despite months of protests and many discussions with the state government, their demands remain unaddressed.
On June 12, the ASHAs began their campaign from the Chanthakunn bus stand in Nilambur town. They spoke to nearby shops and houses, sharing their pamphlets and concerns.
When introducing the issue to shopkeepers, Mini told them how ASHA workers get a meagre daily wage of Rs 232 which is paid only occasionally. She requested them to stand with the ASHA workers by not voting for M Swaraj, a Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI-M] leader and the LDF candidate in Nilambur. The protesting ASHA workers also held a public meeting at the old bus stand in Nilambur after their door-to-door campaign.
According to KAHWA, around 100 ASHA workers from Nilambur and nearby districts, including Palakkad and Kozhikode, participated on the first day of their campaign.
Stressing the importance of their campaign, Mini told TNM, “The money spent by the state government on this bye-poll also comes from taxes paid by ASHA workers. The concerns of ASHA workers should be raised in this election.”
According to Aleena, the Malappuram coordinator of KAHWA, many in Nilambur have extended their support after hearing the concerns of ASHA workers. “A good number of them said that they have been watching our protest on the television and that they will never forget how ASHA workers stood with them during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Aleena told TNM. Though not an ASHA worker herself, Aleena works with KAHWA.
‘LDF is against women and workers’
“This government says that they are pro-workers, pro-people and pro-women. But we–women–have been protesting on the streets for the past 124 days. They are not only ignoring our demands, but they also insult and humiliate us. Through their actions, they are making it clear that they are neither pro-worker nor pro-women,” Mini said.
“We demand that our daily wage be raised from Rs 232 to Rs 700, as promised by the LDF government before the 2021 Assembly elections. It's been more than 4 years, but they have not implemented this. The finance minister [KN Balagopalan] has said that the government has no financial crisis, why then are they being so stubborn about not paying the promised wage?” Mini asks.
Also speaking to TNM, Baby Latha, who has been an ASHA worker since 2010 in Chokkad panchayat, near Nilambur, said they receive an average of Rs 12,000 to 13,000 a month, which is insufficient for the work they do. “In my family, there are other sources of income as my son has a job. But a family that depends solely on the ASHA workers’ income can never survive on these wages,” she pointed out, adding, “If the government raises the daily wage to at least Rs 500 from Rs 232, it will be a relief for us.” Baby Latha, a member of the Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC), heard of KAHWA recently and decided to work with them.
‘Campaign under the name of ASHAs’
Speaking to TNM, M Swaraj cast doubts on the authenticity of the ASHA workers’ protests. He claimed that the ASHA workers were actually campaigning for the LDF and that protests were being conducted by “others in the name of ASHA workers”.
“ASHA workers are with us during the campaigns. My understanding is that someone else is conducting the protest here in the name of ASHA workers. They have the right to protest. But, the ASHA workers will never accept a campaign against this government that raised the honorarium from Rs1000 to Rs 7000,” he further claimed.
Agreeing that ASHA workers deserve more consideration, he insisted that the LDF will raise the honorarium. “We don’t need anyone’s advice to raise ASHA workers’ honorarium. The government has previously done it, we will continue to do it.”
Reacting to Swaraj’s claims, Mini alleged that there is a minority among the ASHA workers who do support the LDF due to helplessness and fear. “If there are any ASHA workers who are with the LDF due to threats, we don’t have any comments on that. We are conducting this protest from them too,” she added. Mini also said, “How shameful is it that a Left government proudly says the daily wage is just Rs 232.”
A key question raised by the state government is why there is no similar agitation from ASHA workers against the Union government. They pointed out that the Union government provides a fixed monthly incentive and task-based incentives, which are comparatively less than the state’s honorarium. The fixed monthly incentive from the Union government is Rs 2,000.
Responding to this criticism, Mini said that it is not the responsibility of only ASHA workers to protest against the Union government. “The state ministers went to Delhi three times after our protest started. But they never raised our concerns,” she added. Mini also said that ASHA workers are ready to protest against the Union government when the time comes, but at present the protest’s primary aim is to raise the state government’s honorarium. “We will conduct a protest against the Union government at our convenience,” she also said.
The bye-poll in Nilambur is scheduled for June 19 and the results will be declared on June 23.