Kerala ASHA Protest Escalates With March on CM’s Residence

Police deployed water cannons outside Cliff House, signaling a sharper phase of the eight-month wage agitation.

Overview

A section of ASHA workers left their 256-day sit-in and marched to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s residence in Thiruvananthapuram, confronting police barricades and water cannons.
Protesters, led by the Kerala ASHA Health Workers’ Association, demand raising the state-paid honorarium from Rs 7,000 to Rs 21,000 per month and a one-time retirement benefit of Rs 5 lakh.
An August state panel recommended a Rs 3,000 honorarium hike and Rs 1 lakh post-retirement benefit, a proposal the workers have rejected as insufficient.
Media reports say the Centre has approved increasing the fixed monthly incentive for ASHAs from Rs 2,000 to Rs 3,500 at the Mission Steering Group meeting, with indications of enhanced retirement benefits.
On Tuesday, the association appealed to President Droupadi Murmu to intervene to resolve the stalemate over wages and social security.