Mammootty, Mohanlal and Kamal Haasan should abstain, ASHA workers write open letter to actors

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: ASHA activists have demanded that actors Mohanlal, Mammootty and Kamal Haasan should abstain from attending the 'Extreme Poverty Free Kerala' declaration ceremony to be held on November 1. The ASHA activists have come out with an open letter in the wake of the actors' being invited to attend the ceremony.

The letter asks the three actors to come and meet the ASHA activists in front of the secretariat and say that they are the extremely poor who cannot afford to eat three times a day, cannot educate their children, cannot survive if they get a fatal disease, and are ensnared in debt traps. "By participating in the event, you will become propagators of that big lie. Therefore, Mohanlal, Mammootty and Kamal Haasan should abstain from the event," the ASHA activists have requested in the letter.

“The Kerala where we, the 26,125 ASHAs, who draw a daily wage of Rs. 233, exist, is not free from extreme poverty. We are saying this with our hands on our chests,” the letter says.

The letter is in the name of Kerala ASHA Health Workers Association State President V.K. Sadanandan and Kerala ASHA Health Workers Association State General Secretary MA Bindu.

The ASHA workers are protesting for demands such as increasing the current daily wage of Rs 233 and announcing a retirement benefit of Rs 5 lakh. The letter also states that they are committed to staying on this street until victory.