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Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 22 (IANS) Reacting sharply to the way Kerala Police used violence against Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) workers who were protesting in front of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s official residence on Wednesday, Opposition leader VD Satheesan said the police action against the march of ASHA workers is highly undemocratic.
Satheesan said, “The struggle of the ASHA workers is for a legitimate demand. The government should step back from this fascist approach to handling the protests. The Chief Minister and the government should shun unnecessary stubbornness and arrogance and be ready for talks with the ASHA workers. Immediate steps should be taken to reach a settlement in the eight-month-long protest by ASHA workers.”
A section of Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) workers, who have been protesting for the last 256 days demanding higher honorarium and post-retirement benefits, intensified their agitation on Wednesday, the day President Draupadi Murmu was here on a four-day state visit.
Asha workers had recently put forth their problems before President Murmu through a memorandum.
ASHA workers, led by the Kerala ASHA Health Workers Association (KAHWA), had been protesting outside the state secretariat since the beginning of this year.
But on Wednesday, hundreds of protesters broke several police barricades and faced water cannons while trying to reach the chief minister’s residence.
The protesters raised slogans accusing the Left government of ignoring their long-pending demands.
His key demands include increasing his state-paid honorarium from Rs 7,000 to Rs 21,000 per month and providing him a post-retirement benefit of Rs 5 lakh.
“ASHA workers are the backbone of the primary health system, but we are being treated like daily wage workers,” said one of the protesters.
The agitation is taking place despite a state government-appointed committee in August recommending a nominal increase of Rs 3,000 in honorarium and post-retirement benefit of Rs 1 lakh, which is far short of the workers’ demands.
This issue is also related to the initiative of the Central Government.
In the evening, protesters who intensified their protest in front of Cliff House claimed that a scuffle broke out when the police tried to snatch the mike they were using.
When angry Asha workers protested, the police forcefully took away many protesters.
An ASHA worker said, “Many of us were forcefully removed and taken away in police jeeps. We are not afraid of the action there. We have decided to observe a complete protest day on Thursday against the way the police targeted us today. I was beaten up by a woman police officer.”
–IANS
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