THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With more restrictions imposed in the state by the state government in the wake of the surge in Covid-19, over 500 migrant workers, fondly called guest workers, have returned to their native states through trains and buses. Many of them are returning to their native states in smaller groups for the past two weeks. From Perumbavoor in Ernakulam district, which is the hub of migrant workers in the state, witnessed a larger outflow of labourers in the last two weeks due to the pandemic , fear of job loss and in view of Ramzan.
Mostly, footloose labourers are returning as they don’t get any work since the restrictions started in the state. There has been a surge in the number of migrant workers coming to the railway stations to go to their native states. At Aluva railway station in Ernakulam where the concentration of migrant workers is higher in the state and Thiruvananthapuram central railway station, workers are coming in smaller groups to evade police inspection. In addition, private tourist buses are also being arranged to ferry them to their natives.
The tourist buses are charging Rs 3000 per person for taking them to their natives. Earlier, the Chief Minister designate Pinarayi Vijayan had given instructions to the police that the police would ensure that migrant workers are safe at their labour camps and they will not return homes during the restriction period.
According to KA Mohanan,a contractor of migrant workers based in Perumbavoor, his 10 workers based in West Bengal had returned to their natives in the last week of April. “ Perumbavoor wore a deserted look now as many of the labourers returned to the natives. Over 300 workers from Perumbavoor alone returned home through trains and buses. Many buses are going to the north-eastern part from the state to ferry them. Some of them had gone through flights too. However, the works at major places in Ernakulam got affected badly due to the exodus”, he said.
Benoy Peter, Executive director, Centre for Migration and Inclusive Development (CMID) said there has been an outflow of migrant workers to their native states due to various reasons. “ It is true that many workers are returning home from various parts of the state. But most of them are footloose labourers. They don’t have any contractors. They used to gather on a street on a day. Some contractors pick them and take them to work places. But since the restrictions were imposed, no gatherings are allowed and hence they started returning homes. The workers under the contractors are also going home which is comparatively lesser. Most of them are from Murshidabad in West Bengal and from Assam”, he said.
However, the government doesn’t have the exact number of workers who returned as many of them traveled on their own wish. The exodus has affected the construction and hotel industry. Apart from that, the workers fear starvation due to lack of jobs. Last year, when the country wide lockdown was announced, a large number of labourers went home. Later, the state government had to intervene and they started supplying free food to the labour camps.