Migration from Kerala has become a significant issue in the upcoming Assembly elections, with political parties promising to create more opportunities within the state to discourage emigration for studies and jobs. Experts suggest focusing on 'brain gain' strategies to attract talent back to Kerala after gaining experience abroad.
'In India, there is this first generation migrant, say from a small village in UP. He didn't go to the Gulf to buy a big house but make the life of his family better.' 'He may have paid 1 lakh rupees to an agent to go to the Gulf. Imagine what will happen to him and his family if he has to come back. He and his family will become poor again.' 'He went to the Gulf to come out of poverty, but this war will make his family trapped in poverty once again.'
'There will be no change of seats for Delhi, Assam and Maharashtra.' 'Andhra, J&K, Kerala, Punjab, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, West Bengal and Telangana will lose seats while there will be an increase for MP, UP, Bihar, Haryana, Gujarat and Chhattisgarh.' 'It is a big mistake if you make it a north-south issue.'
'The problems faced by migrants remain the same for the last 20, 30 years -- salaries not being paid properly, exploitation by agents, etc. This is the biggest problem and not what the Saudi government implements now,' migration expert Dr Irudaya Rajan tells Rediff.com's Shobha Warier.
The Covid-19 pandemic has forced a whopping 8.7 lakh expatriates from Kerala to return home, most of them from the Gulf, since last May, with a majority of 5.67 lakh citing job loss as the reason for it, according to official data.
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