The Accredited Social Health Activist ( ASHA ) workers of Kerala are on strike for the last 17 days. The Kerala government has not even bothered to have a serious discussion with them so far to discuss their demands, and instead has issued a circular calling on them to return to work or face dismissal.
ASHA workers claim that the honorarium, initially set at Rs 7,000 per month, has not been paid for 3 months, Also, it has been reduced by between Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 per month for many, which is grossly inadequate in these days of soaring prices of food and other essential commodities. A leader of the ruling CPM party has called the strike ‘politically motivated’, and an act of anarchism
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Similarly, PP Prema, Gen Secy of a trade union affiliated to the ruling CPM said that the honorarium ( which too was only a trifle hardly capable of sustaining a family) was paid to the workers as an ‘act of magnanimity’
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One is really puzzled at such cruel, ironical, and inhuman statements coming from people belonging to a party claiming to represent the working class
However, despite government threats and intimidations, the ASHA workers have decided to intensify their strike
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The striking workers claim they only want to live with dignity
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In this context some social activists have released the following statement, which gives details of the miserable plight of ASHA workers, and their demands :
” Statement by Writers and Cultural Activists
We request the Kerala Government to take necessary actions to end the day/night strike of the Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) workers in front of Kerala secretariat for the last 17 days by fulfilling their just demands.
ASHA workers were the backbone of our valiant fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. However, their work is not acknowledged by our society or our government. The wages they receive is paltry compared to the important work they are doing.
We feel that their demands are just. They demand that
1. Increase the honorarium to Rs 21000 per month
2. Clear the backlog of wages for the last three months
3. Revoke the unilateral decision to fix the retirement age to 62
4. Provide a lumpsum amount of Rs 5 lakh as a retirement benefit
Instead of holding a discussion with the striking ASHA workers, Health and Finance ministers of Kerala and some of the ruling CPI (M) activists and CITU trade union leaders are indulging in insult and ridicule. They even question the right of these workers to organise and strike for their just demands. The government is trying to intimidate the intellectuals and social activists who addressed the striking ASHA workers using the police force. This is ridiculous and childish and not becoming a democratic polity. The Kerala government must stop the vilification of the striking workers and stop the efforts to crush this just strike with the police force.
The apathy of the Kerala government towards the striking workers is justified in social media by the self-declared spokes-persons of the government by arguing that the honorarium of the ASHA workers is decided by the Union Government and they should not strike in front of the Kerala secretariate. If it is the responsibility of the Union Government, it is the responsibility of the State Government to raise the issue with the Union Government and find a solution. The Kerala government can not put the blame on the Union Government and escape from its responsibility towards the ASHA workers of Kerala.
We request the Government of Kerala to start a dialogue with the striking ASHA workers immediately and find a solution for their just demands “.
I fully endorse the above statement, as I find the demands of ASHA workers to be totally justified. They want increase of the honorarium ( which too has not been paid for 3 months ) from Rs 7,000 to Rs 21,000 per month, along with retirement benefits. In view of the skyrocketing prices of foodstuffs and other essential commodities, the demand is weighty and warranted.
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If the Kerala Government, which is in the hands of a party professing to represent the working class, cannot meet such legitimate demands which enable the workers and their families to carry on a minimum human existence, it is time for it to quit office
Justice Markandey Katju is a retired Judge of the Supreme Court of India
