[Recirculating]

We write to you out of serious concern about the precarity of the lives of the Kerala ASHA workers on strike and the hostility shown to them by the elected government of Kerala. The ASHA workers’ strike has entered its 50th day and the twelfth day of their indefinite hunger strike. Hundreds of workers are outside the Secretariat building striking for the demands to be heard by the left-led State government, braving the heat stress, sporadic thundershowers, and the humiliation from the government and mainstream party workers.

They have been ridiculed and accused of being puppets of the “fascist, fundamentalist” right-wing trying to jeopardize the elections in 2026. Their backing from SUCI and AIDSO has provoked mainstream left politicians and intellectuals even further, accusing them of being too radical to understand the need to be united at this time. Yet the CPM and its allied organizations, unions have declared unconditional support to ASHA and Anganwadi workers in other states, declaring a nation-wide strike on 20 May.

We reject this apathy and accusations against the workers on strike. We also request that you sign-on to this petition to be submitted to the Chief Minister’s Office as a testament to the broader support that the workers have from the public and civil society in Kerala and across the country.

Please sign the petition for the workers demands to be accepted by the Kerala State Government and circulate this in your networks.

https://forms.gle/tJQKB4EGU8LCXuEn6