THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The budget proposal to raise their monthly honorarium by Rs 1,000 thereby ensuring a minimum pay of Rs 9,000 has come as major relief for Asha workers, who have been demanding wage hike for long. This is the latest increment following the earlier rise from Rs 7,000 to Rs 8,000 after months of protests by the workers, as the state heads towards Assembly elections in a few months. However Asha workers are not much amused.
They have been demanding a minimum monthly wage of Rs 21,000 and a one-time retirement benefit of Rs 5 lakh. The workers have been on a relentless protest that included sit-in protests at the Secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram lasting 266 days before they were temporarily dispersed to continue demonstrations at the district level.
Their protest marks nearly a year of sustained pressure on the government. The workers plan to march to the Secretariat again on February 10 on the anniversary of their protest. “We welcome the hike but the demand of Rs 21,000 is still not met and there is no mention of the retirement benefits of Rs 5 lakh. Rs 21,000 is the minimum required for living.
This was promised in the manifesto of the current government, which has not been fulfilled until now. Earlier they said the Union government should approve hikes, but the recent and previous increments prove that claim does not hold,” said S Mini, state vice-president of the Kerala Asha Health Workers’ Association (KAHWA).
The protest has seen many developments. At times, negotiations with state officials, including Health Minister Veena George, have faltered, and a panel appointed by the government proposed a moderate hike and a small post-retirement benefit, but this has fallen short of the workers’ core demands.
The KAHWA representatives say that the criteria attached to receiving their monthly pay forced them to complete specific tasks each month, and that failure to meet these conditions could lead to deductions from their honorarium that would further reduce the already low honorarium.