Kerala ASHA Workers Urge Actors To Skip "Poverty-Free' Declaration Event

A group of Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) protesting outside the Kerala Secretariat appealed to veteran actors Mohanlal, Mammootty, and Kamal Haasan to refrain from attending the state government’s official ceremony on November 1, which will declare Kerala an ‘extreme poverty-free’ state.

In an open letter, the ASHA workers said that over 26,000 of them, who earn barely Rs 233 a day, themselves live in a condition of extreme poverty. “Kerala cannot be called free from extreme poverty while we continue to live in misery”, the letter stated.

By participating in the event, the actors would “unknowingly become part of promoting this falsehood”, workers wrote. The letter urged the actors to withdraw from the government’s poverty-free declaration ceremony.

Read also: Kamal, Mammootty, Mohanlal To Attend Kerala’s ‘Extreme Poverty Free’ Declaration Event

It also invited actors to visit the protest site. It said, “Please come and see us, the ASHA warriors in front of the Secretariat, those who cannot afford three meals a day, who struggle to educate our children, pay for medical care, or repay debts. Declaring Kerala free from extreme poverty without addressing our plight is nothing but a deception by the government”.

Under the banner of Kerala ASHA Health Workers Association (KAHWA), ASHA workers have been staging a sit-in outside the state secretariat since early this year, demanding fair honorariums and post-retirement benefits.

Read also: Exclusive: Health Minister Knows Our Demands Are Genuine, Says KP Rosamma, ASHAs’ Leader

In October, they intensified their agitation during President Droupadi Murmu’s visit to the state marching towards Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijanyan’s residence and clashing with police. Several protesters were detained and later released.