Protesting Kerala ASHA workers accuse INTUC of betraying them; trade union denies it

Thiruvananthapuram/Kozhikode: The ASHA workers protesting outside the Secretariat for 55 days on Saturday accused the Congress-affiliated INTUC of betraying them by suggesting the setting up of a committee to examine their demands in the recent discussion with the government, an allegation denied by the trade union.

Later, the Congress said that neither the party nor its alliance, UDF, want the ASHA workers' protest to be ended by appointing a committee.

Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, V D Satheesan, speaking to reporters at Kozhikode, said that if anyone associated with the Congress and the UDF expressed a different opinion, "the party will seriously examine it".

He said that the Congress and UDF stand was that the honorarium of the ASHA workers should be increased and they should receive retirement benefits.

The third round of discussions between Kerala Health Minister Veena George and the protesting Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) workers two days ago had failed to reach an agreement, as the agitators refused to accept the government's proposal to form a panel to consider their demands and provide recommendations.

S Mini, state vice president of the Kerala ASHA Health Workers Association (KAHWA) whose members are carrying out the agitation, told a TV channel that the proposal for the committee first came from R Chandrasekharan, state president of the Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC).

She said that, thereafter, INTUC and the other trade unions, which were invited for the talks, attempted to pressurise them (KAHWA) to accept the proposal.

"We did not succumb to the pressure and rejected the proposal outright. We had suggested that the honorarium can be increased to Rs 21,000 from the present Rs 7,000 in phases with an immediate hike of Rs 3,000 to settle the protest. However, they were not willing to accept it," Mini contended.

The allegations by Mini were rejected as "lies" by Chandrasekharan, who told the TV channel that the proposal for the committee did not come from him.

He, in turn, accused the KAHWA leadership of not having the mindset to settle the issue or the best interests of the ASHA workers at heart.

He said that the minister had said that the honorarium would be increased.

Responding to his contentions, M A Bindu, general secretary of KAHWA, said that they were not against the committee.

"The committee can be set up to study all the other issues being faced by ASHA workers. We are of the view that it is not required for hiking our honorarium or providing post retirement benefits to us," she told the TV channel.

She said that it was not the intention of the protestors to carry on the agitation indefinitely and they want to settle the issue. "But to settle the matter, there has to be a settlement formula to address our demands. There was no talk about that. They were all only focused on setting up a committee and the trade unions tried to pressurise us into accepting that," she said.

She said that KAHWA wanted to settle the issue and that is why it suggested that the honorarium be increased by Rs 3,000 now to end the protest and later it can be hiked in phases to Rs 21,000.

The KAHWA members have been protesting outside the Secretariat for 55 consecutive days, demanding retirement benefits and a higher honorarium.

The agitators have also intensified their protest with an indefinite hunger strike, which has now entered its 17th day.