Thiruvananthapuram: The indefinite protest by Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) demanding a wage hike and payment of arrears completed 47 days on Friday. When these health workers resorted to a hunger strike on March 20, the government made a surprising move by withholding their honorarium and incentives for February.

S Mini, one of the leaders of the ASHA workers’ protest committee, condemned the government’s action, calling it an act of revenge.

She said that 26,125 ASHA workers from Thiruvananthapuram to Kasaragod expressed solidarity with the ongoing protest. She added that most of them cannot reach Thiruvananthapuram due to financial issues.

The protest committee declared that they would intensify their agitation from March 31. They announced that they would cut their hair as a mark of protest against the government’s apathy in addressing their demands.

“Our protest will enter its 50th day on March 31. On this day, we will cut our hair as part of the next phase of our agitation. We have been staging a peaceful protest since February. None of us has resorted to violent methods like stone pelting. Even the public supports our demand for a wage hike. However, the government is turning a blind eye to our plight,” said S Mini.

Hundreds of ASHA workers have been protesting outside the Secretariat since February 10, demanding post-retirement benefits and a hike in their honorarium from the existing ₹7,000 to ₹21,000. The health workers, who played a crucial role in Kerala during the COVID-19 outbreak, alleged that around 26,000 ASHA workers in the state are awaiting payment of at least two months’ honorarium of ₹7,000 each and three months’ incentives of around ₹5,000 each.

ASHA workers are also demanding that the government provide a retirement benefit of ₹5 lakh and set fixed working hours, as they are often forced to work more than 12 hours per day.