By Express News Service THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Among the privileged sons and daughters of CPM leaders, Asha Lawrence, daughter of veteran leader MM Lawrence is an exemption. The 52-year-old single mother of a plus II student is running from pillar to post to get back her temporary job in Small Industries Development Corporation (SIDCO). During her six-year-long tenure in SIDCO, Asha had to face many hardships -- from ostracism to physical assault and sexual harassment.Asha was dismissed from service on May 6, a few weeks after her article appeared in the RSS mouthpiece, ‘Kesari’. In the article, Asha had described her life’s journey, from an atheist to a believer. She had also written about the difficulties she faced in the SIDCO office. Asha was posted at SIDCO’s marketing cell in Kozhikode in 2012. Her problems started with a vigilance raid that unearthed irregularities at the office in 2016. Her colleagues doubted that the raid followed an alert by Asha and isolated her in the office. Later, she had to face inappropriate gestures from a manager and physical assault by a woman colleague before she was transferred to Thiruvananthapuram in 2018. At SIDCO’s office in the capital, Asha said, she had to face a powerful lobby led by CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan’s sister-in-law. “Everyone isolated me. Once a woman colleague spoke very bad about my family life. She had the support of Kodiyeri’s sister-in-law who later testified against me to the deputy general manager who inquired into my complaint,” Asha said.“But what led to my termination was my son’s visit to the BJP’s protest venue in front of the Secretariat and my article in ‘Kesari’.” Asha is now pinning her hopes on a petition filed in the Kerala High Court demanding her reinstatment in service or a decent compensation from SIDCO. “I’m unable to find another job at this age. I don't even own a house and has to look after my son. I expect a favourable verdict,” she said. Asha says the SIDCO management attempted to mislead the court. “They said a co-worker’s complaint has been pending against me in the Kerala State SC/ST Commission which is wrong. It was settled and I was found innocent. As against the management’s claim, my complaint against the manager in Kozhikode was found true and was settled through mediation by the Legal Services Authroity,” she said.

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