KOZHIKODE: After 23 days since the Union government shocked the nation with the sudden withdrawal of high-value banknotes, the migrant workforce has started returning unable to withstand the crisis. Construction sector that employs a majority of them is the worst affected. "I have salary pending for 20 days. Contractor Bhayya is showing helplessness, and we have no other option but to return. Let things change, and hopefully, we will come back," said Chandra Yadav of Jharkhand, who boarded the Chennai Mail from here.
The migrant workers now crowd every compartment of long-distance trains. "It is true that many are returning. They have been struggling all these days expecting a change in the situation," felt K. A. Shajahan, a contractor in Nadapuram. Locals in the construction field say other state labourers used to change jobs when one sector hit by stagnation. But now they have nowhere to go. "Every area is reeling under the cash crisis," lamented V. Kader Koya, a construction labour in Feroke.
Those who still keep on are those working under major contractors as they protect them fearing the loss of workers when needed. Agrees CREDAI state chairman K.V. Haseeb Ahmad. "But that is restricted to the workforce which doesn't come under organised contractors. It hits ordinary people," he said. "Major contractors are trying hard to keep them by helping them opening bank accounts and providing them with other assistance." According to a rough 2012 estimate by Gulati Institute of Finance and Taxation (GIFT), there are 25 lakh migrant workers in Kerala, replacing emigrants to Arab Gulf countries.
