Thiruvananthapuram | Former LDF convener and CPI(M) veteran E P Jayarajan on Saturday termed as "unnecessary" and politically motivated the ongoing protest outside the Secretariat by a section of ASHA workers seeking a hike in their honorarium and post-retirement benefits.

Jayarajan said that the protesting Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) workers had been misled by some unscrupulous persons and brought to the Secretariat for an unnecessary agitation.

The CPI(M) veteran said that the Left party was not against agitations, but in this case, it was "unnecessary and born out of the minds of some persons who had certain political aims".

"Therefore, we cannot accept such a protest," he said while speaking to reporters here, and suggested that the agitating ASHA workers resume their work.

"This government is there to protect their interests," Jayarajan added.

A section of ASHA workers have been protesting outside the Secretariat for over a month seeking post-retirement benefits and a hike in their honorarium.

The state government has claimed that it has not received any cash grant from the central government under the National Health Mission (NHM) for 2023-24 for payment towards various centre-sponsored schemes, including for ASHA.

The central government has rejected the state's claims and contended that it has given what was due, but the utilisation certificate has not come from Kerala.

It said that once the certificate comes, the requisite amounts would be given to the ASHA workers and the state.

Union Health Minister J P Nadda had also announced in the Parliament that the Mission Steering Group of the NHM has decided to raise the incentives of ASHA workers. PTI HMP HMP

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