'Husband died with huge debts'; ASHA worker Sreelatha protests on street, shares her struggle

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It's been less than three months since her husband succumbed to tuberculosis, and Sreelatha already finds herself on the sidewalk, protesting. Her 25-year-old son suffers from epilepsy. Though he has completed his Plus Two education, his illness prevents him from doing any heavy work or taking jobs far from home.

Sreelatha, a 45-year-old resident of Bhagavathy Nagar in Kowdiar, is one of the ASHA workers staging a round-the-clock protest in front of the secretariat.

"My son, my 21-year-old daughter, and I live in a small house on one and a half cents of land. The honorarium I receive is just seven thousand rupees, and that too arrives only every four or five months.

Even to get an incentive of two thousand rupees, I have to wait for months. I am in debt. When my husband, Manikandan, passed away from tuberculosis, he left us with debts amounting to lakhs of rupees. Shopkeepers, unsure of when I would have money, refuse to lend me any household goods.

My daughter has a small job, but it brings in only a meager income. She was unable to work for two months due to kidney stones. I have no parents to support me. I started working as an ASHA worker during the Covid period. The promise of a regular income was a relief. Now, I don't know how long I will have to sit in the streets like this..." Sreelatha's voice trembled as she spoke.