Staff Reporter
GUWAHATI: The Assam-Ernakulam corridor has emerged as one of the largest inter-state migrant labour pathways in South India. Thousands of migrant workers from various districts of Assam go to Keralam, especially the Earnakulam district, in search of jobs.
According to reports, around 17 per cent of the workforces in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Keralam are migrant workers from various districts of Assam. The money that migrant workers send back to rural Assam serves as a driving force for the state's rural economy.
Thousands of workers from other states of the Northeast flock in the southern states.
Two prominent factors luring migrant workers from Assam to the Ernakulam district in Keralam are the massive structural wages and the shortage of local workers.
A social cause in Kerala that attracts migrant workers from Assam is the absence of discrimination - others do not belittle them for being migrants. Comfortable shelter that the employers provide to their workers is yet another factor that makes migrant workers feel at ease.
Migrant workers work mainly in plywood manufacturing, construction work, rubber industry, hospitality sector and the fish business.
In his recent visit to Kochi, this reporter had the opportunity to meet several boys from upper Assam working there.
Two youth engaged there said that they earned Rs 45,000-60,000 per month by heading and gutting fish. They live together in a shared accommodation, which allows them to save money and send a significant amount back to their families in Assam.
"We are like examples for our friends in our villages," one of the two youth said. "They contact us and come here to get engaged in various sectors."
Back in Assam, no youth can earn Rs 45,000-60,000 per month by heading and gutting fish. The huge difference in income makes the migrant workers of Assam rush to Ernakulam.
This reporter also found two girls - one from Khanapara in Guwahati and the other from Meghalaya. After completing a hotel management course, the two girls have been working there in a hotel for two years. The duo also expressed comfort in working there.
Some workers travel to Kerala to work as security guards, hotel waiters, and in other jobs that they find uncomfortable in Assam. This situation exposes the fact that the dignity of labour is far from being a reality in Assam.
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