KOCHI: According to an estimate by the labour department, nearly 60% of the migrant work force in Ernakulam district have returned to their respective home states because of the floods in August. “Major rebuilding works are yet to begin. When it starts, we would have to prepare proposals and strategies to persuade workers to come back,” said labour commissioner A Alexander.“During the floods, officials from the Orissa government had arrived here and booked train tickets for workers from their state. Special compartments were arranged in trains to help workers from states like Assam and West Bengal who wanted to move out. But presently, with news about the state recovering from the floods spreading across the country, the workers have started coming back. And, for many sectors such as the plywood industry, it is important that they resume their original workforce or else they won’t be able to match the production requirements,” said Alexander.The labour department is confident that when the rebuilding Kerala initiatives are launched in full swing, it is likely that the migrant workers would return to the state due to the increased job opportunities.But Irudaya Rajan, professor, Centre of Development Studies, said bringing back migrant labourers to restart industries here would not be an easy task. “Migrant workers in the state used to take up unskilled jobs here that were mostly not desired by Malayalis. The Kerala they aspired to be in was a ‘prosperous Kerala’, where they were getting higher pay and benefits compared to other states. But Kerala is not the same, it is in a reconstruction stage and why should other people participate unless you give them a big offer? I don’t think the industries in state would be able to do that. During the reconstruction phase, wages are likely to come down,” he said.He said one of the biggest challenges for the state in the next two to three months would be to lure back migrant workers who left its shores.“The plywood industry, the hotel industry and tourism in Ernakulam were dependent on migrant workers. They must have a proper strategy. An additional challenge would be to keep the migrant labourers who left the state within the same industry before they migrate to other fields or states,” said Rajan. The labour commissioner said the department has plans to mobilize Malayali workers for rebuilding the state. “There are several Malayalis who are registered as unemployed. Right now, we are discussing best ways to make them part of rebuilding initiatives after providing them necessary skills,” said Alexander.

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