In the absence of specific details of the number of migrant workers in the State, local governments have embarked on a data collection drive of the labourers currently housed at various camps across the State.
The lockdown has given a breather for the local bodies to secure the details of workers, their living conditions, basic amenities and rigours they are facing at the camps.
Payippad unrest
An unrest of migrant workers at Payippad in Kottayam of late had come as a reminder of the rather sparse information about the workers and the drive was launched with the cooperation of the Labour Department and the police.
As per the data collated by local bodies on April 8, the State has a migrant worker population of 3,98,051. This includes the 1,08,031 workers located in urban local bodies and 2,90,020 persons in 39,057 camps in rural areas.
According to Joy Elamon, director, Kerala Institute of Local Administration (KILA), a macro-level exercise is no panacea to the issue and hence the local bodies that operate at the grassroots-level with elected members who have a thorough knowledge about each ward have been engaged for collecting the details of the workers.
The survey seeks all pertinent details starting from the native States, the number of persons housed in each settlement with specific details of men, women and children, whether they have been housed in rented buildings provided by contractors or hired by them and also have the basic amenities, including adequate room, toilets and food.
Corrective action
“This micro-level exercise is not just aimed at gathering information, but is also for corrective action. Adequate facilities will be provided to workers who need such support. Details of their food preferences too are being sought. While some prefer cooked food, a majority wants kits of essentials. All such aspects are being looked into and corrective measures are being initiated, “ said Dr. Elamon.
The data could be harvested for various purposes in future, especially in the face of an epidemic outbreak or a natural disaster, and locating the workers would not be a tough task, Dr. Elamon said.
