South India’s industry sluggish without workers:Free flight tickets, buses; still laborers not returning from Bengal, Assam

Employers in states like Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka are engaged in a strange struggle these days. They are offering free air tickets to call workers back, sending luxury buses, and making promises of salary increases. Yet millions of migrant workers who come to work from West Bengal and Assam are staying at home. The reason is clear. Most workers who went home to vote in the recently concluded assembly elections are reluctant to return. Benoy Peter, ED of the ‘Centre for Migration and Inclusive Development’, says, ‘This time almost all workers went home to vote, especially due to concerns about the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll. The record voter turnout in both states is a result of this.’ There are several other reasons for the delay in return, such as the onset of monsoon in Kerala, school holidays, the festival of Bakrid, and the sowing season in the fields. Due to the crisis in West Asia, work in some sectors is already slow due to shortage of materials like tiles and plywood resin. Kerala is the biggest victim of this crisis. Around 40 lakh migrant workers work in the state. Of these, 70% are from Bengal and Assam. Raju John, Director General of ‘Builders Association of India’, says that employers have tried every trick. Flight tickets, salary increases, buses are included in these. Still, most workers are not ready to come. The situation in Tiruppur is even more worrying. Production capacity in this largest knitwear export center of the country has reduced to around 70%. Orders are already low due to the West Asia crisis, now the shortage of workers has increased the difficulty further. There is an even deeper layer to the crisis. The rapid industrial and infrastructure construction in Bihar, Jharkhand, and Uttar Pradesh in recent years has opened up employment opportunities right there. G. Ramesh, Chairman of Layam Group, warns that if this pace continues in the eastern and northern states, it will become even more difficult for South India to gather laborers in the future. Meanwhile, wage expectations are also rising. For jobs like welding, laborers are now demanding ₹30,000-33,000 instead of ₹20,000. Taking Advantage of the Opportunity – Migrant Workers Demanding One and a Half Times More Wages Than Current Rates – 1.3 crore migrant laborers work in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka. They mainly come from northern and eastern India, such as UP, Bihar, and West Bengal. – Of the approximately 40 lakh migrant workers in Kerala, 70% are from West Bengal and Assam. They participated enthusiastically in the elections, but they are not in the mood to return. – Tirupur’s knitwear industry’s production capacity has reduced to 70%. Amid labor shortage, workers have started demanding one and a half times the wages.