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Kerala very labour-friendly State, say migrant workers from Assam

By MANASH PRATIM DUTTA

MUVATTUPUZHA, March 7 - More than 3000 kilometres away from their native place, thousands of youths (both boys and girls) from Assam, most of them school dropouts are searching for their destiny in various small and medium industries of Kerala.

�In Kerala, most of the migrant workers of Assam belong to Nagaon, Morigaon and Baksa districts. In various places of this State, our youths are working in various industries like fish packaging, construction sites, plywood industry etc. All of them have been employed through some contractors,� said Ajay Basumatary, a 45-year-old migrant labourer from Tamulpur area of Baksa district while talking to The Assam Tribune here recently.

According to him, the rate of migration of Assamese youth is very high in the present time. �The migration of young labourers from Assam is taking place continuously because of the labour-friendly environment of Kerala. Both the State government and the employers take every possible care by implementing various social schemes,� Basumatary added while explaining the reason behind the migration of manpower from Assam.

�I came to Kerala in 2012 and since then I have been working in a fish packaging industry. The work load is very high but the salary is also good. Every month I manage to send around Rs 10,000 to my family. It is not possible to earn such a huge amount for a wage labourer like me in my State,� said Ratul Kalita, a youth who hails from Nalbari.

�Before coming to Kerala, I had also worked in some industries located in Delhi and Mumbai. But in Kerala, the working environment is much better,� said the 26-year-old Ratul, a class eight dropout, who dreams of having a tractor within two or three years, so that he can manage a livelihood in his own place.

Another Assamese migrant labourer Hemanta Das, a 23-year-old class nine dropout from Shimala village of Baksa district said, �I am satisfied here. I could not go further in my education due to financial hurdles. Now I want to earn some money in Kerala so that in the coming days, I can start a business at my own place.�

Nineteen-year-old Fakrul Islam from Juria of Nagaon district, who came to Kerala around two years back and since then has been working in a plywood industry said, �My father is a petty wage labourer due to which it was not possible for me to continue my studies. We do not even have enough land for cultivation. So ultimately, one day I made up my mind to move to Kerala where already some boys from our village were working in some industries. I came to Kerala and got a job in a plywood industry under a contractor. All migrant workers have been working under some contractors here. There is also scope to earn extra by working overtime and we also have medical and other insurance facilities. But I always dream to return to my home and want to start my own business.�

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