ASHA employees who have been demonstrating outside the Secretariat for 39 days further up their agitation on Thursday when three of them declared an indefinite hunger strike in support of their demands for higher honoraria and post-retirement perks.

The hunger strike began with chants against the ruling Left government, with the protesting ASHA workers accusing the government of "corruption" and being "cruel" towards them. Before the hunger strike began, Congress leader and former state Health Minister V M Sudheeran visited the protesting ASHA workers to show his support. Later, speaking to reporters, he criticised the ruling CPI(M) for taking a "neo-fascist" stance against the protestors. "They appear to be attracted by neo-fascism," he said. When reporters informed him that state Health Minister Veena George had gone to Delhi earlier that day to address the issue of ASHA workers, he referred to it as "delayed wisdom." Speaking to reporters at the airport in the morning, George stated that it is the responsibility of the central government to raise the honorarium and other incentives for ASHA workers. 

"They have not increased it for the last 20 years. Will tell them (Centre) everything we (state) have to say including the need to increase the honorarium of the ASHA workers," she said. Her action, along with the ASHA workers' hunger strike, followed the failure of their talks with the state government the day before. The protesters had two rounds of discussions on Wednesday—first with the state Health Mission authorities in the morning and then with Health Minister George in the afternoon. Leaders of the ASHA workers who were demonstrating, however, told the media that both negotiations had failed because the government would not abide by their "basic demands," which included an increase in honoraria. Later, George held a press conference to explain the government's stance on the issue. "We requested them to end the ongoing agitation and assured that the state government would do as much as possible for them," she had said. On Monday, hundreds of ASHA workers gathered outside the state's Secretariat to protest and raise their demands. 

The Left government in the state has stated that it has not received any funding from the central government under the National Health Mission (NHM) for 2023-24, which is meant to cover payments for various government-sponsored schemes, including for ASHA workers. However, the central government has rejected the state's claims, stating that it has provided the necessary funds, but the utilisation certificate has not been received from Kerala. It added that once the certificate is received, the required amount will be given to the ASHA workers and the state. Union Health Minister J P Nadda also announced in Parliament that the Mission Steering Group of the NHM has decided to increase the incentives for ASHA workers.