Kerala Pioneers In Offering Benefits To Migrant Labour

Migrant workers are a special feature of the economy of Kerala.

- Kishore Kumar Biswas

The state has both high outward and inward migration of labour. While there’s a lot of attention paid to outward migration and its economic implication, inward migration is a relatively less explored. For Keralites, migration to the Gulf, Arab countries and Europe provide financial benefits. Additionally, the migration of Keralites to different places of India, particularly, to the metropolitan cities is also high.

Context

Immediately after independence, the economy of Kerala did not look promising. Its society was caste-ridden and was economically fragmented. The production level was also low. From the late 1960s, a sizeable percentage of the state's population started migrating to the oil-rich countries of West Asia in search of employment. In those economies, there was a significant demand for semi-skilled and skilled labour in the construction sector and other sectors linked to the oil industry. The earnings of a worker in those countries were much higher and a large amount of remittance money flowed back to the southern Indian state, changing its economic condition from the 1970s.

Population growth has been negative in many states of India and Kerala is one of them. Population growth in two of the 14 districts in Kerala has turned negative. Additionally, the number of elderly population is increasing. The proportion of those who are aged 60 and above increased from 6% in 1961 to 13% in 2011 and the trend is expected to be similar now. So, the supply of labour in Kerala is less than its requirement. This is the main driving force behind inward migration of labour to Kerala. At the same time, the minimum wage rate is much higher as compared to other Indian states. This is the main pull factor for migration to Kerala. Migrants come from over 195 districts spread across 25 states.

Benefits