The Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) workers will end their 265-day-long sit-in protest in front of the Secretariat on Saturday. The decision follows Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's announcement of a hike in their monthly honorarium. However, the ASHA workers stated they would continue their agitation in all districts until the state government increases their monthly honorarium to ₹21,000 and enhances their post-retirement benefits.
On Saturday, Opposition Leader VD Satheesan will inaugurate the Samara Prathinja Rally (Protest Pledge Rally) in front of the Secretariat, which will mark the beginning of the district-level protests.
Addressing the media on Friday, MA Bindu, general secretary of the Kerala ASHA Health Workers Association (KAHWA), said they have decided to end the protest temporarily but will resume their agitation on February 10, 2026, coinciding with the anniversary of the day-and-night protest.
"The government has issued a circular declaring the responsibilities of the ASHAs while meeting our demands. The ruling party and related unions argued that only the Central government can decide on our demands. Union Minister Suresh Gopi and several public representatives visited us. As our protest was discussed in both houses of parliament, the Central government announced a fixed incentive of ₹1,800 to all ASHA workers and a retirement benefit of ₹50,000 to those who completed 10 years in service. On Thursday, the Chief Minister himself declared the hike in our honorarium and promised to settle all the pending arrears. The state government also decided to form a committee to study issues faced by ASHA workers," said M. A. Bindu.
Leaders of the ASHA workers’ protest told the media that they consider the state government’s decision to increase their monthly honorarium by ₹1,000 as a victory of their months-long day-and-night agitation. "We had received threats on our WhatsApp groups from leaders of trade unions affiliated with the ruling front. They told us that the government would not give us even a single penny. But our protest forced the government to change its stance," Bindu said.
On Thursday, the state government announced a ₹1,000 increase in the ASHA workers’ monthly honorarium. With this hike, their honorarium now stands at ₹7,000 per month. However, the protesters are demanding that it be raised to ₹21,000, equating it with the state’s minimum daily wage of ₹700— a promise included in the LDF’s 2021 election manifesto.
Even with the latest increase and after including other incentives, the maximum an ASHA worker can now take home is around ₹14,000 a month — roughly ₹467 a day — which remains far below the promised minimum wage.
A total of 26,125 ASHA workers will benefit from the increased honorarium. Their arrears will also be disbursed soon. According to government sources, the additional annual expenditure for the state due to the hike is estimated at ₹250 crore.
The major demands of the ASHA workers were post-retirement benefits and a hike in their honorarium from the existing ₹7,000 to ₹21,000. When launching the protest in February, the health workers—who played a major role in Kerala during the outbreak of COVID-19—alleged that around 26,000 ASHA workers in Kerala were awaiting the payment of at least two months’ honorarium of ₹7,000 each and three months’ incentives of around ₹5,000 each. ASHA workers also demanded the government ensure a retirement benefit of ₹5 lakh for them. They are also demanding that the government set fixed working hours, as they are often forced to work more than 12 hours per day.
Also read: Kerala Gov kicks off SIR as CM Pinarayi, UDF oppose move
Follow us
