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Inclusion of Interstate Migrant Workers in Kerala and Lessons for India

Author

Listed:
  • Benoy Peter

    (Centre for Migration and Inclusive Development (CMID))

  • Shachi Sanghvi

    (Centre for Migration and Inclusive Development (CMID))

  • Vishnu Narendran

    (Centre for Migration and Inclusive Development (CMID))

Abstract

An estimated 3.5 million interstate migrant workers have become an indispensable part of Kerala’s economy. The state also offers the highest wages for migrant workers for jobs in the unorganised sector in the entire Indian subcontinent. Further, the state has evolved several measures for the inclusion of the workers and was able to effectively respond to their distress during the national lockdown. This paper examines labour migration to Kerala, key measures by the government to promote the social security of the workers and the state’s response to the distress of migrant workers during lockdown, by synthesising the available secondary evidence. The welfare measures as well as interventions initiated by the state are exemplary and promising given the intent and provisions. However, some of them do not appear to have consideration of the grassroots requirements and implementation mechanisms to enhance access. As a result, the policy intent and substantial investments have not yielded the expected results. The state’s effective response to the distress of workers during the lockdown emanates from its overall disaster preparedness and resilience achieved from confronting with two consecutive state-wide natural disasters and a public health emergency in the immediate past. While the government has played a strategic role through policy imperative and ensuring a synergistic response, the data presented by the state indicate a much larger but invisible role played by the employers and civil society in providing food and shelter to workers.

Suggested Citation

  • Benoy Peter & Shachi Sanghvi & Vishnu Narendran, 2020. "Inclusion of Interstate Migrant Workers in Kerala and Lessons for India," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 63(4), pages 1065-1086, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:ijlaec:v:63:y:2020:i:4:d:10.1007_s41027-020-00292-9
    DOI: 10.1007/s41027-020-00292-9
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Jajati K. Parida & Merry Elizabeth John & Justin Sunny, 2020. "Construction labour migrants and wage inequality in Kerala," Journal of Social and Economic Development, Springer;Institute for Social and Economic Change, vol. 22(2), pages 414-442, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Monalisha Chakraborty & Subrata Mukherjee & Priyanka Dasgupta, 2022. "Bengali Migrant Workers in South India: A Mixed-Method Inquiry into Their Earnings, Livings and Struggle During Covid Pandemic," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 65(2), pages 425-443, June.
    2. Priya Deshingkar, 2022. "Structural Violence and Normalising Human Suffering: Labour Migration During the COVID Pandemic in India," Journal of South Asian Development, , vol. 17(1), pages 134-140, April.
    3. Tijo George & Mala Ramanathan & Udaya Shankar Mishra, 2022. "Nature and composition of inter-state migration into districts of Kerala: some evidence from Census of India, 2011," Journal of Social and Economic Development, Springer;Institute for Social and Economic Change, vol. 24(2), pages 379-403, December.
    4. Mishal Alice Mathews & Geert De Neve & Sonja Ayeb-Karlsson, 2023. "Dimensions of wellbeing and recognitional justice of migrant workers during the COVID-19 lockdown in Kerala, India," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-10, December.
    5. Narayan Chandra Nayak & Bimal Kishore Sahoo & Alok Ranjan Mohanty, 2023. "Do Mahatma Gandhi NREGA and convergence measures arrest distress migration? An empirical assessment of the migration-prone regions of Odisha, India," Letters in Spatial and Resource Sciences, Springer, vol. 16(1), pages 1-22, December.

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