The Left government in Kerala is drawing flak for its handling of the agitation by Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA), and rightly so. Their protest, demanding a higher honorarium and other benefits, is nearing a month. The government has done precious little to end the stalemate, apart from blaming the Centre. Naturally, the agitation has triggered a political slugfest, with the opposition using the opportunity to settle scores. The ASHAs—community health workers engaged under the National Health Mission (NHM)—number 26,125 in Kerala and are demanding their pending wages, increase in monthly honorarium from `7,000 to `21,000, retirement benefits of `5 lakh and fixed working hours.
The Kerala government argues that the NHM is a central scheme. The workers are considered volunteers, not regular employees, and hence, the minimum daily wage of `700, promised in the ruling LDF’s election manifesto, does not apply to them. It claims the Centre is yet to clear `100 crore meant for ASHAs and Kerala already pays the highest honorarium among the states. The protesters argue ASHAs work for the state health department and the honorarium is its responsibility. The opposition has accused the government of misleading people, saying the Centre has already released `815 crore of the `913 crore allocated to Kerala for all NHM schemes (not just ASHA).
Government actions vitiated the atmosphere, including unsavoury remarks by ruling front leaders against ASHAs, the government’s sudden decision to train 1,300 people to work on various health programmes, NHM state arm’s threat to dismiss the workers on protest, police action against them and the personal attack on Kerala Asha Health Workers Association vice-president S Mini. These actions were seen as intimidation tactics.
The government must acknowledge ASHA workers’ contribution to Kerala’s commendable strides in healthcare, not ridicule their agitation. Since the agitation began, support from civil society has been pouring in, and prominent people have spoken out against the government’s tactics. ASHAs are underpaid and overworked even as their role has expanded. It’s a shame their fight for minimum wages, recognition, and dignity has become a matter of cheap politics. The government must engage with the activists, address their grievances, and end the protest.