KOZHIKODE: Kerala Institute of Local Administration (KILA) is planning to recommend the government to include migrant labourers in Keralotsavam to develop the cultural exchange as well as creating a healthy relation with the local people.
They are also planning to conduct a survey of migrants and issuing ID cards following the first ever special grama sabha for migrant labourers at Thrissur recently. KILA director Dr P.P. Balan said the grama sabha for migrants conducted at Mulangunn-athukavu grama panchayat in Thrissur was a huge success.
The recommendation to allow migrant workers to participate in the different tiers of Keralotsavam at various levels of civic bodies is based on the feedback received from the programme. “More than 200 migrant labourers including youth participated in the grama sabha and expressed their happiness in giving them a space in our society. They also shared their woes including harassment by the people and robbery by the alcoholics. We had also given them a stage to perform their cultural art forms,” he told DC.
“They are coming from a different cultural background and they are in fact the backbone of our economy these days. It is our duty to help them to preserve their cultures and also to create harmony between their culture and ours. Participation in Keralotsavam will be a starting step in this regard.”
The KILA director said the civic bodies would soon start the survey to collect various details of migrant labourers in the state to issue identification cards. “There are nearly 40 lakh migrant labourers in Kerala and compilation their data will help the government to formulate policies and welfare schemes for them,” he said.
