Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 22 (IANS) Reacting sharply to the way the Kerala Police went on a rampage on Wednesday against the Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) workers who were protesting before the official residence of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Leader of Opposition V.D. Satheesan said the police action against the ASHA workers’ march is highly undemocratic.

“The ASHA workers’ struggle is for a legitimate demand. The government must withdraw from this fascist approach to handling protests. The Chief Minister and the government should put aside unnecessary stubbornness and ego and be ready for dialogue with the ASHA workers. Immediate steps should be taken to reach a settlement in the ongoing ASHA workers’ protest, which has now been continuing for eight months,” added Satheesan.

A section of Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) workers who have been on protest for the last 256 days, demanding higher honorariums and post-retirement benefits, escalated their agitation on Wednesday, on a day President Droupadi Murmu was here on a four-day state visit.

The ASHA workers had recently brought their woes before President Murmu through a representation.

The ASHA workers, led by the Kerala ASHA Health Workers Association (KAHWA), had been staging a sit-in outside the state secretariat since the start of their protest early this year.

But on Wednesday, hundreds of protesters broke through multiple police barricades and faced water cannons as they tried to reach the Chief Minister’s residence.

The demonstrators raised slogans accusing the Left government of ignoring their long-pending demands.

Their key demands include increasing their state-paid honorarium from Rs 7,000 to Rs 21,000 per month and providing a post-retirement benefit of Rs 5 lakh.

“ASHA workers are the backbone of the primary health system, but we continue to be treated like daily wage workers,” said one of the protesters.

The agitation comes despite a state government-appointed committee recommending, in August, a modest increase of Rs 3,000 in the honorarium and a post-retirement benefit of Rs 1 lakh, far short of the workers’ demands.

The issue also ties in with Central government initiatives.

In the evening, the protesters who intensified the protest before the Cliff House claimed that when the police tried to snatch the mike which they were using, a melee broke out.

Angry ASHA workers resisted and the police forcefully took away several protesters.

“Several of us been forcefully removed and taken away in police jeeps. We are not going to be cowed down by there actions. On Thursday, we have decided to observe as a total protest day over the way the police have targeted us today. I was beaten by a lady police official,” said an ASHA worker .

–IANS

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