Thiruvananthapuram: After holding a day-and-night protest for 265 days outside the Kerala Secretariat, ASHA workers under the banner of the Kerala ASHA Health Workers Association (KAHWA) have decided to end their current strike, announcing that the agitation will now continue at the district level.

The protestors had been demanding an increase in their honorarium to ₹21,000 and ₹5 lakh as post-retirement benefits. KAHWA state general secretary M A Bindu said their next phase of agitation would be taken to the grassroots and that the association would also campaign against the LDF government in the upcoming local body elections.

“We will tell people not to vote for this government,” Bindu said.

She criticised the state administration for prolonging the stir, stating that it could have been resolved “within 10–15 days” had the government shown willingness to negotiate.

“So, that politics has to be told to the people and we will do that,” she added.

Bindu said the ASHA workers were only demanding fair compensation for their labour.

“But the government only increased our honorarium by a miniscule ₹1,000 per month, which comes to ₹33.33 per day. It is an insult to our agitation,” she remarked.

She further highlighted the rising cost of living, noting that the price of coconut oil had surged from ₹190 to ₹450 per litre during the protest, making the hike meaningless.

Earlier, Bindu pointed out that their long protest had yielded some progress, including a Central government decision to raise their fixed incentive to ₹1,500 and offer ₹50,000 to ASHA workers completing 10 years of service. The state government, too, increased the honorarium by ₹1,000 and promised to clear arrears.

“Since we were able to achieve all this during our 265-day-long protest, we will end our current mode of agitation in front of the Secretariat tomorrow (November 1). We will continue our agitation till our demands are met in full. We will continue our protests in the districts from the grassroots level,” Bindu told reporters.

She also announced plans for a mass protest rally on February 10, 2026, marking one year since the start of their agitation.

KAHWA state vice president S Mini echoed Bindu’s statement, saying,

“We were able to force the state government, which had refused to hike our honorarium, to increase it by ₹1,000. It is a big victory for us.”
PTI