CHENNAI: The state government is planning to carry out a fresh survey next year on the emigration pattern of workers from the state. It has been nine years since such a survey was conducted in the state.
The survey was necessitated as the state government found it difficult to ascertain the details of Tamils who have emigrated to Ukraine in the backdrop of the country’s war with Russia.
Dr Bernard D’ Sami, senior fellow at Loyola Institute of Social Science Training and Research (LISSTAR) said as per the Tamil Nadu migration survey 2015, there are 2.2 million emigrants from Tamil Nadu living abroad, which is around 3% of the total population of the state.
Though Singapore is estimated to receive the largest number of emigrants from Tamil Nadu, accounting for 4,10,000 followed by UAE with 4,00,000 emigrants, the Gulf nations receive over half of the emigrants, estimated to be 1.1 million.
The emigration has come down due to the size of families declining in India, said Dr Sami, on the sidelines of ‘National Consultation on Crime against Women Migrant Workers’ organised by The Tamil Nadu Domestic Workers Welfare Trust and Tamil Nadu State Commission for Women. “Now, many families have a single child, and the parents don’t want to send them abroad,” said Sami.
He said now youth from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Rajasthan are emigrating more to the Middle East.
The other reason for the decline in the Tamil Nadu emigrants is that the economy of the Middle East has been impacted due to global economic slowdown.
Earlier, K Ramesh, deputy director of the Commissionerate of Rehabilitation and Welfare of non-resident Tamils, said the state is opening Pre-Departure Orientation (PDO) Training for migrant workers in seven places to promote safe, regular, and orderly migration.
Chennai already has a PDOT and seven more PDOTs are being set up at Pudukkottai, Ramnad, Kanniyakumari, Thanjavur, Perambalur, Sivaganga, and Villupuram. These are the places where more migration is happening.
Minister for Minorities Welfare and Welfare of Non-Resident Tamils Gingee K S Masthan, chairperson, State Commission for Women A S Kumari, chairperson, State Human Rights Commission S Baskaran, and chief functionary of Tamil Nadu Domestic Workers Welfare Trust S Valarmathi spoke on the occasion.