The agitation by ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activist) workers in Kerala for an increased honorarium and benefits has entered its third phase—a hunger strike at the protest venue outside the Secretariat on 20 March. Meanwhile, Anganwadi workers, supported by the Congress-led Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC), began an indefinite strike outside the Secretariat on March 17 in solidarity with the striking ASHA workers.
Then began the gimmicks and drama of the CPM-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) government, presided over by Chief Minister and CPM supremo Pinarayi Vijayan, particularly Health Minister Veena George, who flew to Delhi on March 20 is a blatant example of this acrobatics.
Veena George claimed she was going to discuss ASHA workers’ issues with Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda in Delhi. In reality, there was no proper initiative from either Veena George or the state government to secure an appointment with the Union Health Minister. It is mandatory to seek an appointment with the Union Minister, especially when Parliament is in session. An email was sent to J.P. Nadda at 12:01 pm on 19 March. This is reportedly evident in Veena’s Facebook post. According to the copies of letters released to the media in Delhi, the letter was dated 18 March but was actually emailed on 19 March.
However, her engagement in Delhi was actually a rendezvous with a Cuban delegation led by a minister. Reports suggest that her meeting with the Cuban delegation was pre-scheduled, as mentioned in her Facebook post. She had also shared a video of the Kerala Speaker’s Assembly speech from 12 March regarding the Delhi visit.
It is worth noting that J.P. Nadda is not only the Union Health Minister but also the BJP’s national president and the party’s leader in the Rajya Sabha. Therefore, it is unlikely that such a high-profile personality would grant an appointment without the proper procedure being followed. When Veena George spoke to the media at Delhi airport on the morning of 20 March, she made no mention of her meeting with the Cuban delegation.
Since Veena failed to secure an appointment with the Union Minister, she stated that she would meet him when she got the chance. She claimed that the letter addressed to the Union Minister had been handed over to the Resident Commissioner of Kerala Government-controlled Kerala House for forwarding to J.P. Nadda.
Clearly, this was nothing but a futile attempt to blame the Union Government for not granting an appointment to the state minister.
Now, ASHA workers are wondering why the Health Minister went to Delhi without securing an appointment with the Union Health Minister while falsely propagating that she was going there for discussions.
Interestingly, a team of Kerala ministers, including Veena George, Finance Minister K.N. Balagopal, and Abdurahiman, Minister for Waqf and Haj Pilgrimage, met with the Cuban Minister and his team.
The Cuban delegation was led by the Cuban First Deputy Health Minister. Veena’s Facebook post reportedly states that the discussion was about the Kerala Health Department’s collaboration with Cuba in research activities in the health sector—supposedly a follow-up to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s visit to Cuba in June 2023.
However, observers argue that Cuba is hardly an exemplary country for a state in Bharat to collaborate with. It is not an advanced nation but rather a poor country, struggling with self-sufficiency in food supply. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Cuba depended on Bharat for medicines and vaccines. Critics allege that Veena George’s real purpose in visiting Delhi was merely to attend a dinner hosted by the Cuban delegation.
ASHA workers have reacted strongly, stating that Veena George went to Delhi for no real purpose—she herself did not seem to know why she went. (They cited a Malayalam proverb to express this sentiment.) Meanwhile, they criticised CM Pinarayi Vijayan for travelling to Chennai without showing even the minimum courtesy of visiting them at their protest site outside the Secretariat. They alleged that the government is blind and deaf to their struggles.
Meanwhile, CPM leaders and ministers have launched unacceptable attacks against the striking ASHA workers. They continue to claim that the workers are being misled by anti-LDF forces, while at the same time, they attempt to shift the blame onto the Union Government, concealing the real facts of the matter.
Now, ASHA workers have declared that they will launch a massive hunger strike on March 24.
