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Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 31 (IANS) The 266-day marathon protest by ASHA workers in front of the Secretariat will come to an end, with health volunteers having decided to take their agitation to the districts and people as Kerala heads towards local body elections soon.
The Asha Samara Committee said the strike would be called off on Kerala Foundation Day on Saturday, marking a tactical shift rather than a withdrawal.
The decision comes after the state government moved to increase their monthly honorarium by Rs 1,000, which will take it from Rs 7,000 to Rs 8,000.
The workers, who had originally demanded Rs 21,000, called the hike “modest” but called it a moral victory.
Committee leader MA Bindu said, “Whatever rights we have won, we have won through struggle.”
“Those who once scoffed at our protest now acknowledge its impact. The government’s change of heart is the result of our tireless fight.”
Association leaders said the Rs 33 per day hike was much lower than the minimum wage demand and criticized the government for not announcing retirement benefits.
“The form of our struggle is changing, but not the spirit of it,” said VK Sadanandan, president of the Kerala ASHA Health Workers Association. He announced that the group will now campaign against the ruling Left Front in the upcoming elections.
Asha workers plan to launch a statewide door-to-door campaign under the slogan “No vote to those who ignore us”.
The organization will also celebrate Saturday as “Vijay Diwas”, in which workers from across the state will participate.
The protest, one of the longest-running labor actions in recent memory, became a symbol of women-led grassroots mobilization.
Even though the government gave credit to sister unions like CITU for the wage hike, ASHA leaders said the real credit goes to the protesting workers.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has introduced a series of pre-poll welfare measures, including a hike in social welfare pensions and new benefits for women, pensioners and youth, but ASHA workers say their fight for fair wages and recognition is far from over.
–IANS
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