Thiruvananthapuram | BJP leader Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Thursday said ASHA workers, pensioners and KSRTC employees were having problems due to the "financial mismanagement" of the Kerala government.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an ongoing agitation by a section of Accredited Social Health Activist workers outside the Secretariat here, Chandrasekhar said that if the Centre was being held responsible for everything, "why is the state government here? Does it have no role or responsibility?" He said that it was the moral responsibility of the state government to resolve the issue of the ASHA workers, a section of whom have been protesting for over a month outside the Secretariat seeking a hike in their honorarium and post-retirement benefits.

The former Union Minister claimed that for the last 10 years, the central government has timely discharged its responsibilities and financial devolutions by the rules.

"There is no dispute about that. Here the issue is financial mismanagement and economic crisis, the cost of which is being borne by the ASHA workers, pensioners and KSRTC employees. Why are they all having problems? "So, it is the moral responsibility of the state government to hold discussions with them to resolve their genuine concerns," he said.

Chandrasekhar said he was "not playing politics", but "requesting the CM to hold discussions with the ASHA workers to resolve their issues"