This document summarizes research on the domestic interstate migration of laborers to Kerala. Some key findings include: - Around 25 lakhs domestic migrant laborers currently work in Kerala, with around 2.3 lakhs arriving annually. The top states of origin are West Bengal, Bihar, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, and Odisha. - Migrant laborers work in a variety of sectors like construction, factories, plantations, hotels, and make up around 10% of Kerala's population. They are known for their hard work and willingness to work long hours. - Migrant laborers send a significant amount of money back home annually, estimated at around Rs. 21,000 crores. Their

1. Domestic Interstate migration of
Labourers to Kerala
The Magnitude, impact and consequences
Dr.Ram Mohan.K.P

3. Reverse migration
• Kerala, known as the global supplier of
manpower, accounts for the largest number of
international migrants from an Indian state.
-emigrants from Kerala is estimated around 3
million, almost a tenth of the resident
population.
• Their remittances, which stand around Rs 1 lakh
crores, form the mainstay of the Kerala
economy..
• Ironically, Kerala is, of late, witnessing a
reverse migration of labour.

4. BACKGROUND
• Large migration of kerala workers left the state with
elderly population and ladies and a great dearth of
working class population—
(Residents above 60yrs—14%)
• Keralites’ penchant for white collar jobs(consequent
to high literacy rate) too has led to severe shortage
of labour in the construction and agricultural sector
• The large international migration, precipitous fall in
fertility, and rapid urbanization has seen Kerala
attract domestic migrant labour in large numbers in
recent years

6. National sample survey report-2013
on unemployment

7. National Sample Survey Office (NSSO)
data
• According to the last NSSO Survey (2011-2012), in
the category of major states, Kerala has the highest
Unemployment Rate (UR)-- 7.4 % , while in other
states it is below 4%.
• A whopping 50 lakh people are estimated to be
unemployed in the state. The unemployment rate is
lowest in Gujarat, at 0.5 per cent . However, Gujarat
is a low paying state on daily wages.
• Reading the two reports together, one can infer that
while migrant labours are attracted by the high
daily wages, the natives are not opting for these
jobs.

8. Travalogue
Route Distence
Kolkkatta-Kochi 2360 kms
Patna-Kochi 2581 kms
Gauhati-Kochi 3500 kms
Kochi-Dubai 2787 kms
Kochi-abudhabi- 2817 kms
Kolkatta, Patna,
Bhuvaneswar--
DUBAI
2500-3000 KMS
The linguistic, social and
cultural differences and the
large distance the migrants
have to travel to reach Kerala
makes the inter-state
migration to Kerala more
similar to international
migration.
Of course, there exist
differences in terms of visa
requirements and restrictions
on mobility imposed in some
countries.
The point emerging is that
the inter-state migration in a
large country like India is
different from the internal
migration within

9. Migrant Labour in Kerala
• Earlier migrations to Kerala were mostly from the
neighboring states of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh,
• They were mostly seeking employment in professions such
as earth work, road works, unskilled jobs in construction,
and in services like ironing clothes, and as cooks and
waiters in small hotels and eateries. They were
concentrated around cities and towns,
• They stayed mostly in temporary sheds or vacant shop
floors and on rare occasions in accommodation provided by
the contractor.
• In terms of patterns of migration, settlement,
employment and mobility, the present wave of
migration differs from the earlier ones.

10. Understanding Migration to Kerala : Some
Efforts
• Anand, 1986 (Ethnographic Analysis)
• Prasad, 2006 (Ethnographic Analysis)
• Surabhi and Kumar, 2007 (Pilot Study)
• Rajan and Zachariah, 2007 (Pilot Study)
• Rajan and James, No Date (Qualitative insights)
• Peter, 2010 (Descriptive analysis)
• Kumar, 2011 (Qualitative study)
• PATTERN OF MIGRATION TO KERALA
(Valsa John and Liji)
• GIFT, 2013 (Migrant estimates) Narayana and
Venketeswaran

11. Background for GIFT study
• The Labour Department gave some thought to
measures that the state need to take to ensure
welfare of Domestic Migrant Labour in the state.
• One of the main constraints that the state faced
in framing policies for the DML and in responding
to their socio-security concerns, was the absence
of authentic information and data on the
numbers and extent of DML in the state

12. Domestic Migrant Labour in Kerala
D Narayana and C S Venkiteswaran
with
M. P. Joseph IAS (R)
Rehabilitation on Labour Reforms
Submitted to
Government of Kerala
Institution of Government of Kerala
15 February 2013

13. Train Based survey
• A unique methodology of conducting surveys
of migrant labourers travelling in 63 long-
distance trains moving in or out of Kerala
(“the only mode of travel available to them”)
from their home States).
• Survey conducted at Kasargode and Palakkad
(entry points to kerala) in long distance Trains
to estimate origin of in-bound and out-bound
DML

14. Gift study-2013
(Dr.D.Narayanan & C.S.Venkateswaran)
• 25 lakhs of Domestic Migrant Labourers in kerala
• 2.3 lakhs arrive every year
• 11.6% of those who return to native states do not
come back
• Projected no of DML by end of 2015—28-29 lakhs i.e
about 10% of kerala population (3.34crores-2011
census)
• Out-Migration from kerala (2014-23.63 lakhs)
• DML inside kerala has out numbered
Malayalee migrants away from kerala

16. Top states of origin of migrants
• West Bengal---20%
• Bihar------------18.1%
• Assam---------17.28%
• U P--------------14.83%
• Odisha--------- 6.67%
• Other states—23.13%

17. Other essential data
• 90 % of migrants are males
• 75% between 18 and 29 yrs
• Migrants above 36 yrs are rare
• Hindus—70%, 24%-Muslims, 6% -others
• 50%from Bengal and Assam and 20% from
Odisha are Muslims
• Christians are mainly aborigners from Asam
and Chotta Nagpur area

18. Age pattern of Migrant Laborers
• 40.8 % -- 26–35yrs
• 21.6 %--- 36–45yrs.
• 24.4%----- 15–25yrs.
• 13.2 %---- 46–55yrs and
above

19. Source of Information for Migration
• 55% of the DML reach kerala through contact
with friends or relatives
• Only 28% reach through Agents & Labour
contractors
• 15.6 per cent of migrant workers reached the
place on their own will in search of earning
their livelihood.
• 20% have worked elsewhere before coming
to kerala, for superior wages

20. What triggered the migration to
Kerala?
• In case of Assamese workers, the first batches came to
Kerala in the late 80’s and early 90’ s in the aftermath
of a legal ban on wood felling and the consequent
closure of wood/plywood industries in their state.
• It was also a time when wood industrial units were
being set up in Perumbavur; they came in groups to
work here, and were much preferred due to their
experience and expertise in it.
• Later, when the construction boom started in the mid-
90’s many of them moved to construction, where the
wages were much higher

21. • The pattern was different in the case of
construction workers in Ramanthali, where, most
workers were recruited by labour contractors
from Maldah district in West Bengal, and they
were sent for a period of 60 days at a time;
• New batches came and went in response to the
demand.
• In Thiruvananthapuram, the first batches came
during the construction of the southern Air
Command campus in Aakulam

22. DML from north have infiltrated into all fields of
labour and service in kerala!!
• 60% are working in construction field
• They have reached all areas like
• Hotels and Bakeries(7%)
• Brick and tile making units(6%)
• Factories(8.3%)
• Agricultural field and plantations(2.31%)
• Also in hospitality, commercial
establishments, beauty parlours, plywood
factories, etc.

23. Construction
(60%)

24. Brick and Tile manufacturing

25. Factories

26. Bengali Tiger

27. Most successful Bengali migrant!!
Shreya Ghoshal

28. Not in unskilled labour alone!!
• Masons
• Workshop mechanics;
• Electricians
• Watch repairs
• Carpenters
• Supervisors
• Barbers and beauticians
• Small hotels and meal shops selling samosa,
khaja, jilebi etc
• Chat shops

29. April-2015- Wages Data
• Kerala paid the highest wage to both men and
women labourers in almost all daily wage jobs sector
,almost double the national average.
• For agricultural work, the average daily wage in Kerala
was more than Rs 713, followed by Tamil Nadu at Rs
515. The lowest wage being paid in the country was Rs
187. States like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and
Odisha paid wages in the vicinity of Rs 200.
• Carpenters and plumbers get wages which are two
times the national wage average for their profession.
• while the average wage ranges between Rs 200 and Rs
300 for different professions in states across the
country, Kerala does not pay below Rs 600 for any
job.

30. Good wages
• The average wage of unskilled DML in
construction is Rs.600-700
• When there are middlemen involved ,it may
be less by about Rs.100
• A concrete worker may go for 2 to 3 jobs per
day making 1200 to 1800,but daily work is not
ensured.
• A worker may send anywhere between
Rs.5000 to 25000 pm ,home

32. “Kerala--Gulf of migrant labourers”
• The remittance of NRI malayalees to Kerala in 13-14 fin
year was Rs.72,680 crores
• In the same period,the amount that DML send home
from Kerala was approximately 21,000 crores
• That means the outward flow of money is more than
1/4th
of what comes in.
• The average amount that a DML send home is
Rs.70,000.
• It also means that 4.5% of GDP of Kerala (3,96,282
crores ) is flowing out not forgetting that hard work of
DML was instrumental in achieving this GDP

33. Why keralites are migrating to gulf?
• The wages and living conditions of unskilled laborers in
gulf are poorer than in kerala
• The average wage in UAE for an unskilled worker is
500-1000 dhms(Rs.8500-17000) much less than DML
get in Kerala(18000-21000)
• They have to brave extreme climate, visa fees of about
51000/- and separate from loved ones and experience
poor living conditions
• In spite of enough job oppurtunities in Kerala, it is the
false pride of malayali that make them migrate to gulf
and make DML work at a cost in excess of what they
earn

34. Employment
• The employers have no complaints about their
dedication to work and output, though in skilled
jobs, their productivity is less.
• The quality of masonry work differs between the
local masons and migrants, with regard to its finish
and perfection.
• But the time and quantity of labour put in by an
average migrant worker is much more than that by
the local labourers.
• But, the migrant labourers are easy to manage and
supervise; They also put in longer hours and are
ready to do overtime.

36. ‘Hard workers’
• 57.82 % of DML work 6
days a Week and
28.71% work
7days(GIFT study)
• They are prepared to
work 2 or 3 shifts
continuously and
nobody complains of
their willingness to
work
• They are easy to
manage and supervise

37. Plywood factories
• Timber and plywood factories were the first
ones in state to engage DML
• Their salaries used to be on lower side—
Rs.200 to 400 but they have regular jobs and
working extra shifts help them to compensate
• Now DML workers take job on contract and
finish ,and working all the time make Rs
2000/- to 3000 a day

38. Monthly outward remittance by
Migrant workers to home state
• >Rs.20,000----------4.76%
• 10-20,000-----------19.73%
• 5-10,000------------38.5%
• 1000-5000----------24%
• Initially Money was sent home by postal
money orders by “The Bhais”
• Now most of them send money home using
the CDM S(cash deposit machines) of SBI
which has branches in all their villages and
some use green remittance cards

39. Perumbavoor-capital of “Bhais”
• There are more than 1.5lakhs of DML in
perumbavoor area only and 500 reach everyday
• When Travancore Rayons was shut down 13 yrs
back and restictions came for wood cutting ,the
area was in doldrums,but now has rejuvenated
by the pick up in business of plywood factories
and hard work of “bhais”
• There are about 1300 plywood factories in this
area

40. ‘BHAI BAZAR”
Perumbavoor-Puthankurizu road
• This road transforms to a North Indian village
market on Sundays
• Street vendors conquer the street and all the
boards are in Hindi,Assameese,Bengali or
Oriya
• Everything from mobiles, electronic goods,cds
clothes, cooling glasses,chappals etc are sold
and several lakhs of business is done each
Sunday

42. Benefits to Kerala
• 60-70% of what the workers earn is spent here
itself i.e about 32,500 crores
• Pan shops to grocery stores, street vendors to
textile showrooms,mobile rechargers to smart
phone shops all benefit by “bhai” business
• They prefer to buy fancy clothes from street
vendors rather than textile shops
• Besides potato and parippu,black gram oil and
soya all are common in our shops now
• Chat shops selling panipuri and bhelpuri are
common in kerala streets now

43. Rental income
• Many make good money, letting out camps
and houses to “bhais” with meager facilities,
much to the annoyance of neighbors
• They accommodate about 20 people in 200
sq.feet area
• There are also shelters where one nights sleep
costs 10 to 20 Rs.

44. Mobile mania
• Mobile phones are the constant companions of
DML
• Always listening to local langauge music kept in
high volumes is their craze, and phones are more
instrumental for this rather than calling people
• Mobiles are the main extravaganza that Bhais
indulge on
• Several lakhs of business is done by mobile shops
by bhais who change their sets frequently

45. • Besides recharging, another business that is
proliferating is recharging Bhais memory cards
with songs and videos of local languages like
Assameese,Bengali,Oriya and Hindi
• You can see a Bhai sitting near all the mobile
shops with a computer, servicing clientele
• Rs.50/- to 100/- is charged for one loading of
memory card by local language music

46. Advantage-Railway
• Though 33 pairs of long distance trains go from
kerala,DML use 5 trains mainly
• KannyakumarI-Dibrugund-Kannyakumari
• Kochuveli-Guwhati-Kochuveli
• TVM-Guwhati-TVM (2 Trains)
• TVM-Shalimar-TVM
• In these trains, Railway is making more than 3
times revenue than before, without providing
any new amenities

48. • All these trains run without an inch of space in
sleeper and unreserved compartments(DML do
not enter A/C classes)
• All the spaces near toilets and between seats are
jam packed and several tie slings between berths
and lie down
• Sleeper tickets to Guwhati cost Rs.1095/- and
general tkt-585/-
• TTEs make up their quota of fine from these
trains and each trip from TVM-GHTI earn railway-
Rs.26.7lakhs----3 to 4 times than before

50. The unreserved coach

51. Parotta affection
• North Indian migrants who have been eating
chappatis,dhal and potato have become admirers of
‘kerala parotta’
• About five lakhs of parottas are sold in perumbavoor
area, daily;considering price of Rs.7/- per parotta, this
become Rs.35 lakh business daily
• Bhais take this with ‘sambar’,charged Rs.10/-per glass
• Parotta remain undigested for hours and the hunger is
suspended. i.e the main attraction for bhais;
• There are bhais who take upto 30 parottas daily

54. Other pastimes
• Local tours—prefer autorickshaw with loud
speakers, and 5=6 people share it
• Addiction to tobaco products—esp. to chewable
forbidden things like ‘Hans’ which is getting
smuggled into the state in large quantities
forfeiting govt. revenue
• Cannabis is used by a large proportion
• Toddy shops get thronged by “bhais” on sundays,
they like different “touchings” rather than toddy!

56. Love to coconut oil
• Those who have used mustard oil all their lives
have developed liking for coconut oil and
carry them in large cans whenthey go home
• Other things that DML acquire on return are
electronic goods, perfumes,fancy clothes etc.
a situation similar to malayali returning from
gulf

57. • Large population of DML do not have any id-
papers like aadhar card or voters id
• Most of them have just a photo certificate
from local Panchayath
• There are middlemen who get id-proofs for
the migrants for a hefty fee
• The highly illiterate DML are easily exploited
• Though they are sending large sums home,
the situation at home is not improving as it
used to in case of Kerala migrants to gulf—
Main reason –the looming illetracy

58. • SSA started schools to educate children of
DML at Perumbavoor and Kakkanad, engaging
Bengali teacher as well
• Only 27 children joined and in a couple of
years, the bengali teacher returned

60. Language,the main barrier
• Main barrier to communication and hence
inter action is Language,many do not know
even Hindi
• Same problem is faced by labour officers,
doctors, teachers etc. who can try to sort out
their problems
• With migrant workers, Hindi is settling down
among Kerala locals

61. • On buses in many places, the staff can be heard
speaking to migrant workers in Hindi besides
putting destination boards in Hindi and Bengali
• Besides, some migrant workers have married
local women, giving Hindi a permanent residence
in Kerala
• Retail traders in small towns and villages, many
of which have settlements of migrant workers,
have started to display their price lists in Hindi
too, besides putting on display essential bits of
information in that language and conversing in
broken Hindi

63. Living Conditions of the DML
• Question-----‘how many reside in your room’,
• 42%--7 or more, 13%--6, 12% --5, 13%--4 and 8% ---3.
5% ---1or2
• There is hardly any difference as regards crowding across the
DML from different States.
• Almost 84% of them all congregate among their own
language groups.
• Almost all the DML also reported access to toilets, but 95% of
all are common toilets.
• Language groups stay together and work together. And about
94% of all do common cooking with their own language
groups. Individual cooking is reported by only 3% of the DML.

66. • The housing and living conditions of the DML are
abysmally poor. They often live in the worksites and
factories itself, in crowded rooms with poor water
supply and sanitation facilities.Only few of the rooms
have proper kitchens.
• Cooking, bathing etc. takes place mostly in the open.
• Leaving the housing of DML to vagaries of the
market forces leads to overcrowding and unhygienic
conditions.
• It has compromised not only the health of the DML
but also that of the local population.

68. Health Concerns
• Since the vast majority of DML are actively
working young adults, they have minimal
health problems
• The problems are mainly on account of two
reasons
• (1)Workplace accidents and injuries mainly
due to disregard of mandatory saftey
precautions
• (2)Infective disorders due to poor sanitation
and overcrowded living conditions

69. Health concerns
• If they have to consult a doctor in a government
hospital, they have to forgo work for the day
which the migrant workers usually do not want
to in their quest for maximizing the earnings.
• Migrants depend more on private clinics and
smaller hospitals compared to public hospitals.
They prefer to consult physicians who can
communicate with them at least in Hindi
• study among migrant workers (Surabhi and
Kumar 2007) found that nearly one-third of them
usually approach a local chemist for treatment

70. • “The private hospitals usually support the
employers, such a nexus is essential in such
areas. Whenever an accident or any work-
related injury occurs, the employers prefer
taking them to the private hospitals so that it
goes unreported.
• There are also cases wherein the workers are
deserted at the hospital or deported back to
their homes

73. Health hazards
• Many eradicated diseases like Filariasis,
Japaneese B encephelitis, Malaria, Polio and
Kala azar is coming back to Kerala through
DML

74. • 25 per cent of all migrant workers engage in
high-risk sexual behaviour with prostitutes
making them more susceptible to sexually
transmitted diseases (STD).
• Out of every 10,000 migrant labourers
screened, at least 2,500 engage in high-risk
behaviour.

75. • “the sudden influx of migrant male population into
Kerala, who earn wages and has extra money to
spend, has given a boost to local sex industry.
• Prostitution is rampant among them, but is carried
out under veils of secrecy;
• Moreover, they also are careful not to invite the
wrath of local moral policing.
• All this, along with the total lack of knowledge about
safe sex and the use of condoms, make them a
section that is very vulnerable to fatal infections and
diseases.
• A vast majority of them have not even heard of HIV
or AIDS.”

76. Law and order issues.
• There is a spurt in crimes involving migrant workers,
consisting mainly of single males aged between 18 and 35
years.
• Innumerable cases of theft, burglary, murders, drug
peddling, drug abuse, kidnaps, fights and sexual crimes
involving migrant workers have been reported, especially
from the countryside where the workers are in close
contact with local residents.
• There are also cases of elopement of local girls with
migrant workers. It is easy for migrant labourers to get
away with crimes as there is no record of their place of
origin with any governmental agency or their employers.

78. • Seventy-one Bangladeshi nationals were
arrested in the State in the last two years,
many of them carrying forged documents
identifying themselves as Indians
• Sexual offences
• “Over 90 per cent of the migrants are single
males, and most of them are young “Sexual
offences then are bound to occur.”

79. Vulnerability of Migrant Workers
• living in a place which is different in culture,
language, social settings, legal protection,
entitlements and consumption habits from their
native places
• loss of the traditional support system they
enjoyed before migration
• In view of the host state's failure to acknowledge
their presence, inter-state migrants are barely
considered in policy making in the state where
they live.

80. • Though trade unions in Kerala are strong in
the organized sector and in the unorganized
sector, they are yet to make their presence
felt in any significant way among the migrant
labourers.
• Similarly, the political parties appear to be
not aware of the complex issues involved in
large scale in-migration
• Main Reason……
They are not part of “the Vote Bank”

81. Study on the Domestic Migrant
Labour in Kerala
Recommendations
1.A Common Single Point One-Time Voluntary Registration System
2.Improving Housing and Living Conditions of the DML
3.state government to provide a social security net for the DML
4. make the DML aware of their rights and obligations
5.Sustaining good relations between the DML and the local
population in Kerala is important. This is important to prevent
social tensions in future

82. Registration on Arrival in Kerala:
• common single point one-time voluntary
registration system .
• Thereafter a unique Registration Number
needs to be generated and the given to the
DML along with the Registration Card.
• Every encouragement may be given to the
DML to register themselves upon arrival in
Kerala.

83. Housing and Living Conditions:
• To provide affordable group housing and
associated services (provision of water,
electricity, sanitation, toilets, washrooms,
ensuring a green environment etc.) to the
DML in the state.
• Private enterprises with public support may
be encouraged to build and provide hygienic
accommodation , on reasonable rent to DML

84. Language Barrier
• Lacking local language skills, and often confined to
the worksite, these workers will have difficulty
learning about the rights afforded to them in Kerala,
or about the level of prevailing wages and
protection.
• Their willingness to underbid local wages will have an
effect on the long-term position of workers in Kerala.
• In this light, it is remarkable that labour unions
have been so ineffective, or uninterested, in
reaching out to these workers.

85. Social Security and Health Schemes
for the DML:
• Social Security Schemes should include provision for
payment of lump sum to take care of in cases of
accidents and serious illness, death, loss of limbs etc
• Provident Fund for the DML with contributions from
the employers
• Government of Kerala design a Kerala State Health
Insurance Scheme specifically targeting DML, on a
contributory basis .
• The Health Schemes may be limited to those who
register as per Recommendation 1 above.

86. Employment Issues:
• State Government undertake awareness programmes
both amongst the employers and amongst the DML ,
the latter in their languages. The State Government
may seek the support of the States of Origin of the
DML in these awareness campaigns.
• Efforts need to be taken that over-time wages etc. are
given for work over 8 hours.
• Occupational Safety at the workplace for the DML.
• The employers should also be encouraged to restrict
employment only to DML who have registered
themselves as above

87. Sustaining Good Relationships
between the Local Populations and
the DML:
• Integrate the DML by developing common
platforms of interaction, through cultural
exchange programmes, specific schemes
dedicated to the socio-educational and
cultural development of DML population
• Make the DML feel welcome , wanted and at
home in the State.

88. 6. Help-line in Different Languages:
• set up a help-line for the DML with different
numbers for DML speaking different
languages (particularly Bengali, Hindi,
Assamese and Oriya). The help-line may be
manned by persons who understand and
speak these different languages and are fully
conversant and trained to respond to and
guide the DML on all matters including labour
laws, health issues, social security, emergency
issues etc

89. Thank You for patient listening!!