Leader of Opposition VD Satheesan interacts with ASHA on the last day of their protest outside the Secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday. | Photo credit: NIRMAL HARINDRAN
Hindu Authority
The Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) ended their continuous agitation for better wages and pension benefits on the 266th day on Saturday, marking their struggle as one of the longest agitations led by women in the state and one that will be remembered as an enduring symbol of tolerance and perseverance.
ASHAs ceremoniously dismantled their protest site and dispersed from the Secretariat gate where they had been conducting their agitation for all these months and vowed to persevere and continue their struggle to secure their demand of ₹700 minimum daily wages. The ASHAs will continue their agitation at the district level and will also actively promote their demands in the upcoming local body elections.
Leader of Opposition VD Satheesan, addressing a rally held on the final day, hailed the movement as a “magnificent victory of women power”. and said that their fight would eventually be won. He said that if the UDF gets an opportunity to form the government in 2026, a decision on the demands of ASHA workers will be taken in its very first cabinet meeting.
Agitating under the banner of the Kerala ASHA Health Workers Association, the main demands raised were an increase in ASHA honorarium to ₹21,000, a one-time pension benefit of ₹5 lakh and removal of all restrictive conditions attached to the honorarium.
The protest, which began on February 10, continued through torrential rains and scorching heat, with the women relentlessly organizing and regrouping each time to last the strike.
Although the main demands of the agitation remain unfulfilled, the 266-day struggle brought them many other victories, including bringing the issue of ASHA’s strike to both houses of parliament and making national and international headlines about the extraordinary perseverance of working women.
Following this, the central government announced an increase in incentives and other benefits for ASHA workers across the country – a major victory credited to the Kerala protest.
The ASHAs on Saturday vowed to continue their agitation till they get justice. They will regroup again in front of the Secretariat on February 10 next year to celebrate the first year of their unprecedented agitation
Published – 01 Nov 2025 21:04 IST
