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Thiruvananthapuram: A protest that continued for months calling for widespread attention and political intervention which took place outside the Trivandrum secretariat is coming to an end. The Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) workers will end their 265-day-long sit-in protest in front of the Secretariat on November 1.
However, their demands to increase the honorarium to Rs 21,000 will continue as the ASHA workers is set to hold protests at every districts in the coming days.
The decision to halt the protest comes after Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan announced a hike in their monthly honorarium. However, the ASHA workers said 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 V D Satheesan will inaugurate the Samara Prathinja Rally (Protest Pledge Rally) in front of the Secretariat at 11 am, marking the beginning of the district-level protests.
Addressing the media on Friday, MA Bindu general secretary of Kerala ASHA Health Workers Association (KAHWA) said that 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 ₹1800 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 MA 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,” said Bindu.
A total of 26,125 ASHA workers will benefit from the increased honorarium. Their arrears will also be disbursed soon. According to government sources, additional annual expenditure for the state due to the hike is estimated at ₹250 crore.
