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CTMJ | traditionalmedicinejournals.com                                    Chinese Traditional Medicine Journal | 2021 | Vol4 |Issue3 

 
 

 

 Chinese Traditional Medical Journal 

A STUDY ON THE PROBLEMS OF MIGRANT LABOUR 

FORCE IN KERALA 

Zull Kamal,  Farhat Ullahj 

Department of Pharmacy, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University, Sheringal, Dir Upper 

Department of Zoology, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University, Sheringal, Dir Upper 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

INTRODUCTION 

In all parts of the globe, labour is seen as a 

necessary component of production. Many 

technologies exist to minimise the number 

of workers, thus human interaction is still 

required. Internal migration in a nation like 

India has been going on for many years. 

Kerala is a popular location for workers 

from across the world. Kerala is like a 

foreign country to them, offering a higher 

standard of living and a better standard of 

living than their own country. There are 

several industries that heavily rely on 

migrant workers either directly or via 

indirect means. There was a shortage of 

workers in various industries because of 

the growing popularity of white-collar jobs 

amongst domestic workers. Migrant 

labourers flock to Kerala for this reason 

above all others. They're always on the 

move in search of new work. Tamilnadu, 

Rajasthan, West Bengal, Orissa, Bihar, 

Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Assam, and other 

north-eastern Indian states are the primary 

sources of migrant labour. In addition, 

people from Nepal, Bangladesh, and other 

Abstract 

Whatever the kind of business, labour is the most crucial element of production. 

Labor migration is improving nowadays because of the variety of challenges that 

workers encounter in their home countries. However, it is distressing to learn that 

migratory workers are subjected to physical and verbal abuse, as well as human 

rights violations, in their new state of residence. Depending on the project's capital 

incentive, labour will be required. However, there are a variety of factors causing 

workers to move throughout the country nowadays. Local workers are in short 

supply in places like Kerala, thus the number of migrant workers is growing 

rapidly. Laborers face a wide range of challenges, no matter where they work. 

Workers from other states, in particular, should be welcomed. Regardless of the sort 

of work performed, workers' rights must be safeguarded. Studying migrants' labour 

issues is the purpose of this work. 

Keywords- Workforces, Migrants, Migrants 

 



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CTMJ | traditionalmedicinejournals.com                                    Chinese Traditional Medicine Journal | 2021 | Vol4 |Issue3 

 
 

countries migrate to the United States. 

Migration has been going on for a long 

time. Migrants are increasingly confronted 

with difficulties. Even in agriculture, 

migrant workers are already common. 

They are involved in our commercial, 

social, and economic growth in one way or 

another. Their work in the construction 

industry, in hotels and restaurants, and 

elsewhere is very beneficial to the growth 

of both the local community and the 

country as a whole. As a result, it's 

essential to look at the issues facing 

Kerala's migrant workers.  

LITERATURE REVIEW 

 

Feudal exploitation and extreme poverty 

were found to have sparked the flight from 

Bihar, according to Ghosh and Sharma 

(1990). They relocated to different states 

in order to survive. Other reasons for 

employee migration, according to him, 

include the attitude of local workers and 

their poor wages. Dubey. As stated by V.P. 

Chand Krishnan and Sukhvinder Singh 

(1996), migration has a crucial influence in 

economic growth, social transformation 

and political organisation. There are many 

migrant workers in Pakistan, according to 

the Punjab Human Development Report 

(2004). However, there are several ways in 

which the labours are discriminated 

against. According to R.B.Bhagath (2005), 

309 million people in India are migrants, 

making about 30% of the country's overall 

population. A kind of linguistic prejudice 

against them has been documented in 

Punjab. According to Dilip Saikia (2008), 

the savimgs habit of the migrant labour 

force has been determined to be bad. All of 

their earnings are spent on themselves, and 

the remainder is sent back to their home 

state. Migrant workers' monthly expenses 

are estimated to be less than $1500, 

according to the report. An investigation 

by the Kerala government discovered that 

around 25 lakh of the migrant labourers 

come from northern Indian states, as 

reported by the Indian Express (2013). 5 

percent of Kerala's gross domestic product 

is remitted by them. When it comes to 

male migration, the most common factors 

are work-related, followed by family and 

business concerns and education-related 

ones, according to research conducted by 

Ramees Abbas and Divya Varma in 2014. 

 

METHODOLOGY 

 

The research is purely descriptive in scope. 

The research relies on both primary and 

secondary sources of data. Surveys that 

had been pre-tested were utilised to gather 

information. Secondary data are used to 

augment the primary data, which were 

drawn from a large pool using a random 

sampling procedure. A total of 60 samples 

were used in the investigation. Shoranur 

Municipality provided the source of the 

sample. 

OVERVIEW 

 

Migrant workers have taken over Kerala, 

formerly considered as God's own land. 

Migrant workers from Bangladesh, Bihar, 

and Assam now populate almost every city 

and town in the country. In addition, there 

are a few foreign migrants. We've also 

seen workers from Nepal, Bihar, and other 

places. Migrant labour is widely used in 

the construction business, the hotel 

industry, and the agricultural industry. 

Kerala has become a haven for many long-

term migrant workers. It's because the pay 



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CTMJ | traditionalmedicinejournals.com                                    Chinese Traditional Medicine Journal | 2021 | Vol4 |Issue3 

 
 

is better than in their own state. But in 

Kerala, they're dealing with a lot of 

problems. Migrant workers face a wide 

range of health difficulties, discrimination, 

and human rights breaches. These 

migrants' social progress and economic 

well-being are likewise up for debate. 

However, migrant labour should be taken 

into consideration as a significant aspect in 

economic progress. 

 
 

Various government policies and laws in 

support of them need be developed. The 

state of Kerala has a slew of labour camps 

dotted across its different regions. 

Shoranur is also home to a large number of 

labour camps. The refugee camps aren't 

clean. 

They are overseen by an administrator. 

Many people work in Shoranur owing to 

its convenient transit options, such as a 

railroad and roads. Migrant workers need 

an agent to go to and from work every day. 

It takes them around 200 kilometres a day 

to go to and from work. People are drawn 

to these workers because of their hard-

working attitudes. The Keralite inferiority 

complex is a major factor in the area's 

labour shortage. There are several types of 

occupations that they categorise. As a 

result, some are seen as prestigious, while 

others are seen as less so. The need for 

migrant workers is growing in this region. 

FINDINGS 

There is evidence to suggest that a large 

number of people are fleeing their home 

countries because of high levels of 

unemployment, losses from natural 

disasters, and other unusual occurrences in 

their agricultural sector. Migrants under 

the age of 30 make up the vast majority of 

the population. Compared to males, the 

number of female workers migrating is 

lower. Employees that have just relocated 

seem to be under-educated. Incredibly, 

some of the supervisors who have also 

relocated to this location are recent 

graduates of their own state universities. 

Migrant workers are concentrated in the 

construction industry. Are migrant workers 

putting in more hours than the industry 

norm? The vast majority of migrants are 

employed in the unregulated labour 

market. As a result, they don't know about 

the many benefits that are accessible to 

them such as health insurance and ID cards 

provided by the local authority and the 

federal government. Kerala's construction 

business was boosted by the migration of 

workers from Kerala to Gulf nations. 

Kerala's building industry has grown, 

making it easier for migrant workers to 

relocate there. Migrant workers in Kerala 

come mostly for the higher pay. Migrants 

are mostly coming from Bihar, West 

Bengal, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Tamilnadu, 

and so forth. Other countries, such as 

Nepal and Bangladesh, have sent their 

citizens here. Migrants' living 

circumstances are likewise appalling. 

Unfortunately, the room's amenities are a 

disgrace. They have a difficulty because of 

the lack of sanitation and infrastructure. 

Health insurance and other programmes 

enacted to address their concerns remain 

unknown to the working class. 

 Manpower, particularly that of young 

people, is critical to a country's 

development. Providing young people with 



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CTMJ | traditionalmedicinejournals.com                                    Chinese Traditional Medicine Journal | 2021 | Vol4 |Issue3 

 
 

a pleasant work environment is an 

important step the government can take to 

empower them. Migrants' workplaces must 

have adequate safety precautions in place. 

Migrant workers' information is not 

properly gathered by the state government. 

So a separate cell belonging to the local 

authorities may collect this data, which can 

be utilised for future purposes. To prevent 

the agents and other middlemen from 

being exploited by a licencing scheme. 

The government may provide migrants 

with a basic education to help them live 

moral and peaceful lives. The native 

government of each state has the power to 

address the issues that cause migrant 

workers to flee their home country and 

therefore aid in the rehabilitation of those 

migrants. Proper legislation is needed to 

protect the idea of pay equality. The 

government must safeguard human life 

and rights since they are critical to the 

country's economic progress. 

 

Conclusion 

In today's economy, labour plays an 

important role. Local workers in Kerala 

are hesitant to take on some professions 

because they believe they are beneath 

them. Some of them were exclusively 

interested in white-collar careers. Because 

of this, migrant workers were brought in to 

fill the labour shortage. Migrant workers 

are now the backbone of a number of 

industries in Kerala. In many respects, 

migrant workers are exploited. These folks 

are less informed of their rights. They are 

exploited mostly because they lack 

organisation. There were no labour unions 

or other social safety nets in place. Even 

still, in order to alleviate the woes of 

migrant workers, effective government 

intervention is required. A variety of 

measures are needed to help migrant 

workers reintegrate into society in their 

home countries. 

References 

 

•According to a research conducted in 

2009 by the Department of Planning and 

Economic Affairs and Punjab's 

Government, "A study on the difficulties 

faced by migrant workers in Punjab" 

•  

•A report on the human development of 

Punjab in 2004 


