Kerala: Asha Workers to end Secretariat protest as most of their demands fulfilled

Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India], October 31 (ANI): Asha workers have decided to end their protest in front of the Kerala Secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram. The announcement will be made shortly, marking the 266th day of the protest. The agitation will now be extended to district-level campaigns.
"The Chief Minister's recent announcement proves what we have been saying from the beginning, that it is the state government's responsibility to pay the honorarium. As our protest reaches its 265th day, we have achieved most of the demands we raised," Asha Workers Association General Secretary, MA. Bindu told ANI.
"When we began the strike, five months of honorarium payments were pending. Today, salaries are being paid regularly every month," she added.
She said that the State government has withdrawn the criteria for honorarium distribution, and the order mandating the retirement of ASHA workers at 62. These were the demands of the Asha workers
"We also insisted that the definition of our service be clearly stated so that no additional workload is imposed beyond that, and a circular was issued accordingly," she said.
"Initially, the ruling party and its union said protests should be directed at the Centre, but we were able to build pressure on the Union Government as well. Union Minister Suresh Gopi, along with opposition MPs and MLAs, visited the protest site and extended support. Our demand to increase the central incentive was accepted. The Centre approved a fixed incentive of ₹1,500 and a retirement benefit of ₹50,000 for ASHA workers completing ten years of service," she added.
She said that the Asha workers' associations had demanded ₹21,000 as honorarium from the state government, but they resisted, claiming it wasn't their responsibility. However, the Chief Minister has now acknowledged that it is indeed the state's duty to enhance the honorarium and announced that all pending dues will be settled. Even the CITU has recognised this position, she said.
"Given these achievements, we are concluding our 265-day-long protest at the Secretariat. But our struggle will continue at the district level until our remaining demands 21,000 monthly honorarium and ₹5 lakh retirement benefit are met," she said.
"A pledge rally will be held tomorrow at 11:30 AM, with Opposition Leader V.D. Satheesan attending. On February 10, marking one year of our protest, a historic rally will be organised. Though the permanent protest centre at the Secretariat will be wound up, our agitation for justice will continue strongly across Kerala," she added. (ANI)