The strike by ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activists) workers in Kerala has now continued for nearly three weeks. The workers are demanding the pending payment of their honorarium and are also seeking public attention to the fact that they constitute an underpaid and overworked workforce within the Health Department, despite their meagre earnings.
ASHA workers state that they have not received their honorarium since November 2024 and are demanding an increase to ₹21,000 per month. However, the government has yet to take any steps to resolve the issue. They have made it clear that they will not withdraw from the strike until all their demands are met. They are demanding ₹700 per day and ₹5 lakh as a terminal benefit. Their strike has now entered its 19th day, despite the ultimatum issued by the Kerala Health Ministry.
BJP Kerala leaders have been at the forefront of supporting the ASHA workers’ agitation, actively engaging with the protesters and assuring them of their commitment, while Congress’s so-called support has remained mere lip service.
Suresh Gopi, Union Minister and BJP leader, visited the striking ASHA workers outside the secretariat on March 1 and assured them of his wholehearted support, stating that he would take up the matter with the Prime Minister and the Union Health Minister.
V. Muraleedharan, BJP leader and former Union Minister, along with BJP state vice-president Shobha Surendran, visited the protest site on 27 February, addressing the agitators and extending the party’s support to their cause.
Meanwhile, reports now suggest that the CPM-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) government, under Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, has initiated steps to dismiss the striking ASHA workers. Local self-governing bodies have reportedly been instructed to replace the protesters, citing the excuse that a lack of volunteers is hindering children’s vaccinations and treatment for pregnant women. Panchayat Secretaries and Panchayat Presidents may appoint new ASHA workers to replace those on strike.
In addition, the government has disbursed the ASHA workers’ honorarium pending for the past three months, contradicting an earlier statement by Health Minister Veena George, who had initially claimed that no payments were overdue.
While the ASHA workers remain firm in their demands, the ruling CPM has resorted to intimidation tactics, with party leaders continuing to insult the protesters with abusive language. P.B. Harshakumar, the state vice-president of CITU (Centre of Indian Trade Unions, the CPM-controlled trade union), called S. Mini, the leader of the ASHA workers’ agitation council, a ‘worm’ who spreads contagious diseases.
In response, the Council retaliated in kind, remarking that they were fortunate that CPM killers had not hacked Mini 51 times and murdered her—an apparent reference to the brutal killing of CPM leader T.P. Chandrasekharan on 4 May 2012 in Kozhikode district. Chandrasekharan had left the CPM due to ideological differences and formed the Revolutionary Marxist Party (RMP). It was established that he had been hacked 51 times by CPM cadres.
Harshakumar’s comments appear to stem from the CPM’s frustration after their attempt to mobilise a significant number of ASHA workers for a parallel movement failed. A march organised before the Income Tax office in Kozhikode saw only a negligible turnout of ASHA workers, with most participants instead being Anganwadi workers, Kudumbashree workers, and Haritakarmasena (workers engaged in waste collection). Similar parallel programmes in Kozhikode, Kottayam, and Thiruvananthapuram also witnessed poor participation from ASHA workers.
On 24 February, Elamaram Kareem, former minister, CPM central committee member, and national secretary of CITU, questioned the legitimacy and motives of the ASHA workers’ strike outside the secretariat. In an article published in Deshabhimani, the Malayalam mouthpiece of the CPM, Kareem claimed that only a small section of people were staging a ‘protest drama’ under some delusion. He alleged that the media and opposition parties were using the strike as a weapon against the LDF government.
In an apparent effort to counter the ASHA workers’ strike, the CPM organised an alternative protest in Kozhikode. The ASHA Workers and Facilitators Federation of India (affiliated with CITU) staged a dharna outside the Income Tax Office—evidently an anti-Centre protest. Addressing the demonstration, P.P. Prema, the organisation’s national president, warned that if ASHA workers did not withdraw from the strike, they would lose their jobs. She urged the protesters to redirect their anger towards the Union government, alleging an attempt to sabotage the state government.
These developments and the threatening tone reaffirm the CPM and the LDF regime’s disregard for people in general and their lack of genuine concern for the workers in particular.
