Kerala: Counting migrants

Published : Nov 30, 2012 00:00 IST

Migrant labourers arriving in Kozhikode in search of work.-S. RAMESH KURUP

Migrant labourers arriving in Kozhikode in search of work.-S. RAMESH KURUP

From November 1, long-distance trains became the venue of a unique government initiative to gauge the number of labourers migrating to Kerala in search of unskilled work.

The fortnight-long initiativea sample survey that seeks answers from migrant-labour passengers on trains about their area of origin, nature of skills and employment, and conditions of work, wages, health and livingis expected to offer the first official estimate of the migrant labour population in the State.

A large-scale survey is to follow and is to be completed in six months, according to State Labour Minister Shibu Baby John. Unofficial estimates have claimed varyingly that there are 10 lakh to 30 lakh migrant workers in Kerala. No doubt, the huge inflow of casual, largely unskilled workers from other States in recent years had led to a disorderly labour market in the State.

The first government attempt to understand the true picture, by seeking the registration of migrant labourers at work sites, has not been very fruitful, with only about 40,000 labourers being registered, Labour Commissioner T.T. Antony told Frontline. The lack of exact numbers of migrant workers hampered government attempts to implement welfare measures for them or to monitor their working conditions, he said.

The results of the sample survey would be announced by the end of December and would provide some sense of the total number of migrants and the net inflow of migrants into Kerala, said D. Narayana, Director of the Thiruvananthapuram-based Gulati Institute of Finance and Taxation, which is conducting the study. It will help the government streamline and target welfare measures meant for such labourers. It will also give an idea of the regional diversity within the migrant groups, their age distribution, nature of work, skill levels, wage structures, expectations and the nature of contractual bondages under which they are currently working, he said.

As a follow-up measure, the Labour Department has drafted a Bill that seeks to make registration of migrant workers a compulsory duty of their employers. The Bill, now before the government, also seeks to provide a number of social security benefits to the workers, relating to their conditions of employment or special circumstances of ill-health, accidents and/or casual nature of work.

The State government also has plans to establish facilitation centres in other States for migrant labourers wanting to work in Kerala.

R. Krishnakumar
Sign in to Unlock member-only benefits!
  • Bookmark stories to read later.
  • Comment on stories to start conversations.
  • Subscribe to our newsletters.
  • Get notified about discounts and offers to our products.
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide to our community guidelines for posting your comment