As the number of corona virus affected persons crossed the 200 mark by Monday morning, making it the State with the second highest number of afflicted patients, Kerala is faced with a major issue which has been brewing up for days. It is feared that migrant workers across the State may take to the streets demanding better living conditions or for transportation back to their villages.
An aggressive posture by thousands of migrant laborers in Paippadu Grama Panchayat in Kottayam district on Sunday took the State administration by surprise. The migrants, mainly from Bengal and Assam (though the local officials term them as workers from Bangaldesh) took to the streets demanding immediate arrangements to travel back to their native places in the backdrop of the 21-day shut down.
“The workers, mostly from Bangladesh masquerading as they are from Bengal and Assam are upset that they are out of work. Being daily wage earners, they are not in a position to find ways to get two square meals a day,” said Siby Abraham, member, Paippadu Panchayath in Kottayam district. He said there are more than 10,000 migrant workers in Paippadu Panchayth and most of them are in possession of at least a dozen identity cards.
This is not a problem faced by Kottayam district alone. Neighboring district of Ernakulam, the El Dorado of migrant workers, is like a volcano which may burst anytime. Perumbavoor, a small town with nearly 500 registered plywood companies faced tense moments on Monday as local officials reached a labor camp housing migrant workers. Because of the nationwide lock down , all plywood companies, which employ nearly 1,00,000 migrant workers, had laid off the workforce.
Most of the owners of these plywood factories, money spinners in normal time, refused to pay the workers citing the layoff. “There are 1,50,000 migrant laborers in Perumbavoor who are employed in plywood companies, timber mills and eateries. They get anything between Rs 800 to Rs 1,000 per day for a 12 hour shift. The owners of the factories and mills make huge profit but they refuse to pay the workers at least half of their wages in this time,” Subramanian Sasidharan, a timber mill owner , told The Pioneer. He also disclosed that 90 per cent of the workforce is from Bangladesh. “They work sincerely and with dedication. The local youth are reluctant to do manual jobs,” said Sasidharan,
Sunday’s showdown in Paippadu has upset the authorities as Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan himself came out with a statement on Monday. He said some vested interests were instigating the migrant workers. Officials in State police said they suspect the role of a 24X7 news channel owned by a religious group for fomenting troubles at Payippadu on Sunday.
