Copyright thehindu
A section of voluntary community health workers under the National Health Mission (NHM), Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs), have requested actors Mohanlal, Mammootty, and Kamal Haasan not to grace the official function declaring Kerala “extreme poverty free” on November 1. The ASHAs, under the aegis of the Kerala ASHA Health Workers Association (KAHWA), have been on an indefinite sit-in strike in front of the government Secretariat since February 2025 for a substantial increase in their monthly honorarium and retirement benefits, among other demands. In an open letter to the actors, the ASHAS said their lives, trials and tribulations belied the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government’s claim that Kerala had eradicated extreme poverty. They alleged that the government had turned a blind eye to their protests. In the past nine months, the ASHAs said they have slept rough on the pavement and braved police action, including a water cannon charge during a recent march to the Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s official residence at Cliff House in Thiruvananthapuram, to keep their cause alive. However, the government had disregarded their woes and treated their demands with disdain. The KAHWA reminded that at least 11 ASHAs succumbed to COVID while delivering community health care during the pandemic. However, their sacrifices for society have gone unheeded by the LDF government. The KAHWAs’ appeal comes in the run-up to the star-studded mega event, at which the Chief Minister will declare Kerala the first State to eradicate extreme poverty in Thiruvananthapuram. The LDF has touted “extreme poverty eradication” as its flagship achievement in the crucial election year. In July, CPI(M) State secretary M.V. Govindan had urged the KAHWA to join the national strike called by Left trade unions, which demanded that the Central government-controlled NHM grant ASHAs the status of workers instead of volunteers. However, the KAHWA demurred while other ASHAs, beholden to the LDF, joined the national strike. Later, the CPI(M) termed KAHWA the face of an anti-government rainbow alliance of the Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and certain “anarchist” groups. The State government had increased the monthly honorarium for ASHAs to ₹7,000. It has also formed a five-member committee to study their demands. The government had also waived specific criteria for emoluments payments after KAHWA representatives met with Health Minister Veena George.
