January is usually a relatively quiet time unless you are in a private hospital in Thalasserry, Kerala. While the sun starts to glitter, fervent activities awake the ones hoping for a painless day. All of a sudden, the hospital is teeming with patients and their companions;waiting for doctor's update, crowding at the billing counter, repeatedly buzzing the nurse. At the canteen, accompanied over a glass of steaming tea and scattered newspapers, animated conversations about Indian politics as well as governance build up.
The only strangers to this rising cacophony are the migrants mostly from North and North-Eastern parts of India.
Raju, aged around 18 and his sister, looking slightly younger are watching the day unravel with curiosity. They had come a day earlier from Rajasthan, according to Shukoor, owner of the canteen. "There is acute shortage for people to clean vessels and tables. At this time, anyone is welcome," says Shukoor who has been running the canteen for nearly five years.
"There has been a sudden spurt in the number of migrants in this part of the State," comments Narayanan Panicker, 55, who is at the hospital, attending to his ailing mother. "Migrants are increasingly filling up the odd jobs hitherto unfilled - not only in hotels but plumbing, carpentry and even in fields," continues Panicker.
Further away from Thalassery, the temple town of Taliparamba, has been witnessing a gradual increase in the number of Rajasthanis. Locals in the area are only relieved with the increase in migrant families. Rise in building construction, apathy of local labours and cost-arbitrage are in fact seen as incentives for allocating work to migrants. "Work gets done and on time with migrants," says Vijayam Nambiar, a local resident.
The non-descript towns of Kerala today present enormous potential for migrants. With a vast majority of Keralites now literate and preferring white collar jobs, residents especially in North Kerala, have been moving to India's Silicon Valley - Bangalore. "Proximity to Bangalore and the allure of being a part of the famed technology wave has seen many moving to Bangalore," avers aspiring software engineer, 23 year old Rajesh Gopal. In addition to this, Kerala is also famous for tapping opportunities in the Middle East.
Legend has it that every family in North Kerala has at least one member working in the Gulf. Kerala’s economy, propped up by diaspora remittances from about two million Malayalees abroad, can expect windfall remittances to touch Rs75,000 crore (Dh49 billion) this financial year which could form an all-time high of nearly 35 per cent of its net state domestic product, migration expert S. Irudayarajan says. It is this potential that migrants from other States look to tap. Increase in the number of migrants will certainly enable Kerala to be competitive.
With competition nibbling at the low-end and threatening to move up the chain, Keralites will be forced to increase productivity as well as look at much more promising markets.
Legend has it that every family in North Kerala has at least one member working in the Gulf. Kerala’s economy, propped up by diaspora remittances from about two million Malayalees abroad, can expect windfall remittances to touch Rs75,000 crore (Dh49 billion) this financial year which could form an all-time high of nearly 35 per cent of its net state domestic product, migration expert S. Irudayarajan says. It is this potential that migrants from other States look to tap. Increase in the number of migrants will certainly enable Kerala to be competitive.
With competition nibbling at the low-end and threatening to move up the chain, Keralites will be forced to increase productivity as well as look at much more promising markets.
