'We'll sleep on streets': ASHAs’ day-and-night march to capital starts in Kasaragod on May 5

Kasaragod: Kerala's Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs), who have been protesting in front of the Secretariat since February 10, are set to begin a day-and-night march from Kasaragod to Thiruvananthapuram on May 5, the 85th day of their agitation. Their demands include an increase in honorarium, retirement benefits, and improved working conditions.

M A Bindu, state general secretary of the Kerala ASHA Health Workers' Association (KAHWA), will lead the march, which will culminate in Thiruvananthapuram on June 17, after 45 days, said union leaders in Kasaragod on Monday, April 28. "We will sleep on the streets at night," said KAHWA vice-president S Mini during a press conference in Kasaragod on Monday, April 28.

The march will travel through all 14 districts, staying two to three days in each. It will start from the Kasaragod Bus Stand at 10 am on May 5. The march will be flagged off in front of the Secretariat on International Workers' Day, May 1, said Mini.

"We were forced to expand the protest beyond the Secretariat because of the government's stubborn stance towards the protest," said Mini. "The government's approach towards the protest has been the most undemocratic ever shown by any government towards the poorest of women workers," she said.

The government remains unwilling to meet even the minimum demands, said KAHWA leaders Sheela K J, Rosely John, and Akkamma P, who were also present at the press conference.

They called on the public to support and assist the women taking part in the protest march, which will culminate at the Secretariat after 45 days on June 17. This protest march aims to correct the extremely undemocratic and anti-women stance of the government, they said.