Migrant labour force finds state capital a better home

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The huge success of Nadir Shah’s multi-starrer Amar Akbar Antony has changed the demographics of migrant labourers in the state. From being ‘the other’, a migrant labourer is now perceived as ‘the dangerous other’.

The film, which has as its basic theme child abuse, has a migrant labourer as villain. If this is so, the capital city has much to fear. A recent study, which has been quoted in the latest Economic Review, has estimated that 35.18 per cent of those employed in establishments in the capital are migrant labour.

(Their presence in other major cities is yet to be studied.) The highest proportion of migrants are found in hotels and restaurants (54.29 per cent) followed by groceries (40 per cent).

At 39.98 per cent, bakeries and sweet stalls come third. The group of establishments consisting of sawmills, hire shop, shops selling spices, bore well service, cement shops, tile shops and gas agency, report the proportion of migrant workers at 36.63 percent.

“West Bengal, Assam and Jharkhand account for nearly 71 percent of the total migrant labour in Thiruvananthapuram,” the study notes. About 19 percent of the migrant labour are from Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh.

And the rest are from Orissa, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Manipur, and Nepal. The migrants from West Bengal, Assam, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh are seen in most sectors.

However, the Tamil migrant workers are seen only in a few bakeries, tea stalls, and textiles. The Manipuri workers are seen in beauty parlours and Nepali migrants in hotels and Gujaratis in tailoring.

In fact, these labourers are more sinned against than sinning. “Migrant labourers work long hours and are dedicated and sincere; they are ready to do overtime,” the study points out.

The normal working day ranges between 8 to 14 hours depending upon the sector, location and type of contract. “But they are denied social security benefits,” the study adds. Perhaps proving the film a piece of fiction.