Overview
- After 256 days of sit-in, hundreds marched to Cliff House in Thiruvananthapuram, breaking barricades and encountering water cannons as police blocked the route.
- Police detained several protesters and leaders, including KAHWA general secretary M A Bindu, who alleged rough handling during her arrest.
- The protesters seek an increase in the state-paid honorarium to Rs 21,000 per month from Rs 7,000 and a one-time post-retirement benefit of Rs 5 lakh.
- KAHWA also appealed to President Droupadi Murmu for intervention in the ongoing dispute over pay and retirement security.
- A state-appointed panel recommended a Rs 3,000 hike and a Rs 1 lakh retirement payout, and media reports say the Centre’s Mission Steering Group backed raising the fixed monthly incentive to Rs 3,500, but no settlement has been reached.