Kerala, often advertised as the most advanced state in India, learns a wave of resistance that could possibly affect its carefully built image. Tens of thousands of accredited activists for social health (ASHA) who make up the core of the state’s healthcare system have been protesting in the secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram for almost three weeks. Your list of claims, pension rights and job security-sind fair and not negotiable.
In a way, your struggle is not limited to financial complaints. They are a feminist declaration of resistance to Kerala’s prevailing elite, which urges them to recognize a dark reality: ie; Your “revolutionary” dream fades when you are exposed to the crossing axes of caste, class and gender.
As a result, this incident exposed the contradictions of a welfare model that structured the unpaid and poorly paid work of women. In a way, your struggle is not limited to financial complaints. They are a feminist declaration of resistance to Kerala’s prevailing elite, which urges them to recognize a dark reality: ie; Your “revolutionary” dream fades when you are exposed to the crossing axes of caste, class and gender.
Nursing work is work: How Kerala’s welfare state lives from the invisible work of women
Asha workers are the living framework of the robust health system of Kerala. They promote inclination in access to healthcare and close the gap between local communities and medical facilities. From the hostess of health -oriented community drives to the support of people in understanding and using public health services, their contributions are invaluable. During the Covid crisis, she took the lead in front Care medical care, identified high-risk accounts and replied vaccine fehlin formations in skeptical communities. Your efforts are therefore physically demanding and socially irreplaceable and yet politically invisible.
Source: Onmanorama
Officially, they are seen as “volunteers” – a rhetoric of bureaucracy that takes up the importance of their work. You earn a modest £ 7,000 monthly fees without pensions, without stability and unpaid fees. The reason of the state that “this is one of the essential fees in India” is a sharp reproduction and shows a morally bankrupt premise: exploitation is justified if others do more.
When ASHA worker increases your monthly fee to 21,000 GBP, you will follow parity with the state’s own benchmarks. Interestingly, Kerala has Recently revised and increased the salaries of the officials of the public service commission to £ 2.25 lakh per month And sanctioned high-end travel advantages for executive candidates. The undertext is quite obvious: Office-bound roles are compensated for while the care work is written aside.
This inequality is not just a mistake – it is a systemic error. Kerala’s social welfare framework, which reflects the outline of many Indian politics, is strongly based on the underpaid work of women to invest in development activities. Anganage employees, diligence meals and ASHA workers are referred to as “part-time” workers, which deprived them of their labor rights. Your work is viewed as a “service”, a patriarchal misconduct in which care is equated with the charity. It is even more important that the reluctance of the state to formalize its positions – despite its essential contributions – a persistent and harmful prejudice: women’s work – especially of underrepresented communities – treats more as a “natural” talent and not as a sophisticated ability.
It is even more important that the reluctance of the state to formalize its positions – despite its essential contributions – a persistent and harmful prejudice: women’s work – especially of underrepresented communities – treats more as a “natural” talent and not as a sophisticated ability.
The Covid 19 pandemic has taken up this hypocrisy. When Kerala received international recognition for his pandemic efforts, Asha workers were revised and underestimated with a non -mentioned financial future. “How can we support the needy if we have difficulty putting food on our table?” A worker spoke.
Source: counter currents
The state’s assertion on overdue central government agents (£ 468 Crore under the national health mission) Missing sincerity. If Kerala can say large sums for VIP privileges, why not assign the funds to those who keep their health care going?
Asha worker: underpaid, revised and defends itself!
The state’s reaction to protest has embodied the worst patriarchal arrogance. When Elamaram Kareem, a CPM leader, accused that “anarchist groups” co-opted the movement, he used a familiar trope: women demonstrators are either illogical or farmers invisible powers. His attempt to reduce the protest of Asha Workers with that of Pembilai Orumai Agitation (2015) (2015) – where women tea work in Munnar questioned the unions – was striking. Both movements disturbed the male labor policy of Kerala by opposing conventional unions and taking control of their own movement.
In addition, ASHA workers openly rejected relationships with political parties. “There are no flags here,” they say. Her protest creates solidarity in women in social, religious and partisan affiliations – a revolutionary gesture in the polarized sociopolitical climate of Kerala. Your collective action plan, which is triggered by an effective activism on unity – marks an expansion of the democratic principles of the state instead of deviating from it. By setting up platforms for self -expression, these women do not give the legacy of Kerala’s strong laboratory -oriented politics, but manage their neglect in the credibility of care.
They shed light on the structural inadequacies that were far too long away from the argument – gaps that do not indicate a falling system, but to a frame that has to develop to honor his own ideals.
They shed light on the structural inadequacies that were far too long away from the argument – gaps that do not indicate a falling system, but to a frame that has to develop to honor his own ideals. The different language, with which different forms of the protest (“transformative” compared to “anarchic”) were described, opens up a new way to understand the role of gender in the design of workers’ experiences and organizations. The mobilization of Asha Workers is therefore not a rejection of Kerala -progressive reforms, but a rational continuation.
Source: Onmanorama
Prime Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s lack of reaction, however, reveals the lines of the political consciousness of Kerala. His alluding to the legacy of the “Renaissance” of the state-a pioneering resistance to patriarchal and box-based oppression-is the conviction when ASHA workers protest under the shadow of his office. If Kerala does not confront this contradiction, his rhetoric of justice will remain as a superficial illusion.
One would revolt: what Ashas mean for the future of Kerala
The protests of the ASHA workers speak more than just for a work problem – they represent a feminist uprising. By not submitting themselves to silence – these women break up Kerala’s myths and legends one after the other. The first myth is that “development” eliminates gender -specific exploitation.
Kerala’s impressive literacy and health statistics are widespread, but rarely does someone asks: “Whose work is hidden behind these achievements?” The second myth is that gender -specific justice is of central importance for advanced politics. However, supporting the reluctance of the left to support ASHA workers shows the way in which unions dominated by men overlook informal workers.
Enter Asha workers as a formal health service provider, secure fair wages, offer pension benefits and reject the “volunteer mask”.
However, the solution is a matter of course: recognize the economic value of nursing work. Enter Asha workers as a formal health service provider, secure fair wages, offer pension benefits and reject the “volunteer mask”. However, these demands require the willingness to go beyond the status quo and appreciate the dignity of women above anything.
Source: Fii
Ultimately, the ASHA workers from Kerala form part of the global flood of protests from Kenya to Argentina-which are referred to for the recognition of nursing work in all economies. Your protest serves as a precautionary signal: a welfare state that lives from the underpaid work of women is not a “welfare state”. Until Kerala observes this plea, his “Renaissance” is nothing more than a myth – one that is built up in the work of invisible women.
Akhila has a master’s degree in the company and culture of IIT Gandhinagar. With passion to explore ideas through words, they like to write and read them and often immerse themselves in books and essays that challenge perspectives. If you do not immerse yourself in your academic or creative activities, you will find it happy to watch films and have thoughtful conversations.