KOLLAM: Even as Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) workers continue their protest in front of the State Secretariat for the seventh consecutive day, pressing for the release of pending incentives and honorarium, Finance Minister K N Balagopal has termed the agitation “politically motivated.”
Balagopal claimed that payments to ASHA workers had been delayed due to the Union government’s failure to provide its share of funds. “ASHA workers have been misled. The fact is that the state is not receiving its due share from the Union government, and at times, payments get delayed for one or two months.
Despite this, the state government has been ensuring their allowances are paid. It seems some are trying to use ASHA workers for political purposes. Those who brought them here for agitation do not have the same concern for them as the Kerala government and the LDF do,” he said in Kollam.
ASHA workers have been staging the protest demanding the disbursal of their pending payments, including incentives and honorarium. Their talks with Health Minister Veena George on Saturday remained inconclusive, prompting them to continue their agitation.