MIGRANT WORKERS IN IDUKKI

MIGRANT WORKERS IN IDUKKI

There has been an increase in the flow of migrant workers to Idukki district especially in the construction sector.District Labour Officer T. P. Rajan told The Hindu on Tuesday migrant workers are not preferred in the plantation sector as it requires some kind of skill and major plantations traditionally prefer workers from neighbouring Tamil Nadu in addition to the permanent workers from the State.As per the Inter-State Migrant Workers Act, if a contractor brings five or more persons from outside the State, he should have a licence and the employer should also have registration. But as the workers constantly shift jobs, it is not easy to monitor them or prepare a database of workers with contractors.

Thodupuzha is a main area for migrant labourers and the apple cultivating areas of Kaliyar and hollow brick units also employ migrant labour. A major problem for labour officials is that the workers are accommodated temporarily in building lacking basic facilities. Labour officials routinely check in hotels and fruit stalls, which are other areas of work for the migrant labourers. If a migrant labourer is registered with the Construction Workers Welfare Board, he is given insurance coverage for Rs 30,000. But data available with the Labour Department shows that only a negligible per cent of them have been registered.

Prof. John Kurakar