Thiruvananthapuram, March 11 Kerala BJP president K. Surendran on Tuesday asked the Pinarayi Vijayan-led Left government to apologise to the ASHA workers after Union Health Minister J. P. Nadda revealed that the Centre has given all dues to the state regarding payments for them.
According to Surendran, Union Minister Nadda said on the floor of the House that there are no outstanding dues to be paid to Kerala for payments to be made to the Asha Workers.
"Now with things becoming crystal clear, the Vijayan government should apologise for spreading canards against the Centre. The ongoing protest by the Asha Workers is genuine and they are fighting for their rights," said Surendran.
On Tuesday just before the Parliament session began, the Congress-led UDF MPs staged a protest demanding action from the Centre.
"One also fails to understand the repeated statements by Leader of Opposition V. D. Satheesan that the Centre is ignoring the felt needs of Kerala, when the Centre has done its duties. Instead of protesting before the Parliament, the Congress-led UDF MPs should protest before the state secretariat here," said Surendran.
"Nadda has informed the Parliament that Kerala is yet to submit the utilisation of the National Health Mission funds. This is a serious issue as Kerala is playing hide and seek and one doubts if this is done to aid corruption," pointed out Surendran.
Incidentally, the Kerala ASHA Workers' protest issue was raised in Parliament on Monday.
In the Lok Sabha, it was raised by Congress MPs K. C. Venugopal, Shashi Tharoor and V. K. Sreekantan, and in the Upper House, it was BJP member and former National Women's Commission chairperson Rekha Sharma.
The ASHA protesters are demanding a hike in their monthly honorarium from Rs 7,000 to Rs 21,000, along with retirement benefits and the clearance of pending payments.
The CPI(M)-led Vijayan government has come under sharp criticism not just from the Congress-led UDF and the BJP but from various sections of society.
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