Thiruvananthapuram: The indefinite protest of Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) seeking a hike in their monthly honorarium entered its 14th day on Sunday. Congress leaders and Mahila Congress have extended solidarity with the protest, which began on February 10 in front of the state secretariat here. Condemning the LDF government's lapses in addressing the woes of the protesting women, a group of Youth Congress activists blocked Health Minister Veena George's car at Ranni in Pathanamthitta.

They demanded the minister hold talks with the ASHA workers and meet their demands. Meanwhile, the Kerala ASHA Health Workers Association has decided to intensify the protest in the coming days. Congress leader VM Sudheeran joined the protest on Sunday and criticised the LDF government for failing to meet the demands of the ASHA workers, who played a crucial role in containing the COVID-19 outbreak. Sudheeran has written to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan seeking intervention to end the protest.

Meanwhile, LDF leaders including CPI leader Annie Raja and minister Chinchu Rani claimed that a decision on the honoraroium of ASHA workers should be taken by the central government.

Over 200 women from various districts are participating in the indefinite protest. According to the protesters, over 26,000 ASHA workers in Kerala are waiting for the payment of at least two months' honorarium of Rs 7000 each and three months' incentives of around Rs 5000 each. The key demands of the protest are to increase the honorarium to Rs 21,000, considering the workload, and ensure a retirement benefit of Rs 5 lakh to the workers.

Currently, this group of workers has no retirement age. ASHA workers are also demanding the government fix their working hours, as they are forced to work more than 12 hours per day. 

KPCC general secretary M Liju announced that Congress will stage a state-wide protest on Monday in solidarity with the ASHA workers.