New Delhi: Uttar Pradesh (UP) and Bihar are sending more migrant labourers abroad mainly to the Gulf countries presently than Kerala and Tamil Nadu, says data available with the Protectorate General of Emigrants (PoE), reversing trends seen in the decades earlier.

According to the PoE, the top preferred destinations for these migrants are Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Kuwait, despite employment options shrinking in recent years thanks to a slump in oil prices.

Contrary to population perception, the figures show that Kerala and other southern states are no longer the top draw for manpower agencies in the Gulf for blue-collar jobs.

“UP and Bihar have overtaken Kerala and Tamil Nadu. You can see the figure—30% of our emigrants are going out of UP, 15% Bihar, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal—Kerala is only 6% now. So, this is the trend," said M.C. Luther, the Protector General of Emigrants, adding that these numbers showed the pattern in 2016-17.

“The going or migration per se is dependent on a lot of factors—what is the job availability in that state. Nobody wants to travel abroad if he’s got a job next door. Secondly, it is also related to drought," Luther said. “The pattern coincides with drought because with drought there is no job in agriculture or industry and people want to run to a place where they can earn their livelihood and support their family. So, it is correlated. Studies are on in various places," he said.

India has seen two years of scanty rainfall in 2014-15 and 2015-16, thanks to bad monsoon rains that is the lifeline for many farmers across the country with sowing of crops heavily dependent on the rain pattern.

According to officials in the ministry of external affairs, there are 8.5 million Indian workers in countries like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, the UAE, Oman and Bahrain. One estimate by the ministry suggests that these workers send back remittances that make up almost 40% of the total foreign remittances sent to India.

The World Bank’s annual “Migration and Development Brief" report says India retained its top spot in attracting foreign remittances in 2015-16, at $ 69 billion, down from $70 billion in 2014. Other large remittance recipients in 2015-16 in Asia were China with $64 billion and the Philippines with $28 billion.

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