A delegation of CPI(ML) legislators met with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar at the Legislative Council on 6th March 2025 —, presenting a five-point memorandum of demands The memorandum primarily demanded the immediate implementation of the agreement reached during the Mahagathbandhan government in August 2023, which promised an increase in ASHA workers' honorarium to Rs. 2,500. Additional demands included raising the honorarium of mid-day meal cooks, increasing old age and widow pensions to Rs. 3,000, reinstating dismissed Jeevika cadre workers with higher wages, and ensuring wage hikes for sanitation workers and all contractual employees.
Shashi Yadav, MLC from CPIML and General Secretary of the All India Scheme Workers Federation, expressed outrage over the two-year delay in implementing the ASHA workers’ wage agreement. “It is deeply concerning that even after years of struggle to secure a fair honorarium, workers are now forced to fight once again to have that agreement honoured,” she stated. “We have submitted the memorandum to the Chief Minister, but if the agreement is not enforced immediately, we will have no choice but to intensify our agitation.”
The CPI(ML) has long been at the forefront of the fight for workers' rights in Bihar, relentlessly challenging exploitative policies and demanding dignity for scheme workers. The legislators’ action today sends a clear message: the struggle for justice will not relent until promises made to workers are fulfilled.
