Left With No Choice! ASHA Workers Shave Heads in Kerala Protest
Locks of Defiance: ASHA Workers Shave Heads in Kerala Protest
In a raw display of frustration, dozens of Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) escalated their 50-day protest outside the Secretariat on Monday, cutting their hair and shaving heads to spotlight what they call the Kerala government’s apathy.
The emotional scenes unfolded as the women, joined by some men in solidarity, wielded scissors and razors, their severed locks a stark symbol of their plight after weeks of unmet demands.
The demonstration, now in its grittiest phase, saw ASHA workers from across districts converge, their voices rising in slogans against the Left government.
One protester, tears streaming as she shaved her head, clutched her hair and cried, “It’s our lives that are being cut. This is our protest against ministers who turn a blind eye. How do we survive on 232 rupees a day?” She warned that without action, “all the protesters would die here itself,” her desperation echoing the group’s exhaustion after enduring heat and rain for nearly two months.
Mini S, a protest leader, framed the hair-cutting as a deliberate act of resistance. “We’re not protesting emotionally—it’s our strong protest. None of our demands have been considered empathetically,” she told reporters, vowing to spread the agitation statewide.
The group marched down MG Road, brandishing their shorn hair, while similar demonstrations erupted in Alappuzha and Angamaly. An indefinite hunger strike, ongoing for a week, underscored their resolve.
ASHA workers, vital to India’s grassroots healthcare, demand post-retirement benefits and a higher honorarium, currently dwarfed by rising costs. The state blames the Centre, citing a lack of National Health Mission funds for 2023-24, while the Union government counters that Kerala’s failure to submit utilization certificates delays disbursements.
Amid this standoff, Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda’s promise of increased NHM incentives offers hope, but for now, ASHA’s shaved heads signal a deepening crisis—and a refusal to be ignored.
