P Ramdas By

Express News Service

KOCHI: Demonetisation seems to have triggered a massive exodus of migrant workers from Perumbavoor - the main hub of migrant labourers in Kerala.

The Howrah Express and Guwahati Express trains saw a jump in bookings last week, said C Balakrishnan, station manager, Aluva, the nearest railway station from Perumbavoor. Kerala houses nearly 40 lakh migrant workers - the highest among any state in India.

Ernakulam district tops the Kerala chart with 8 lakh migrants and a majority of them are based in Perumbavoor. Balakrishnan said the two trains have 288 general seats each but on last Saturday and Sunday 783 and 1,115 tickets were sold for Howrah Express and Guwahati Express, respectively. A special train headed to Guwahati was cancelled on Sunday.

M A Mujeeb Rehman, state president of All Kerala Plywood and Blockboard Manufacturers Association which employs a large number of migrant labourers, said they were leaving Perumbavoor because of lack of work owing to demonetisation. “There has been a 20-30 per cent decline in jobs in the last 2-3 weeks, especially in the plywood and construction sectors,” Rehman said. “Migrant labourers do 90 per cent of unskilled work. The worst-hit area is construction as we don’t have enough currency to give daily wages to the workers. Some are staying back hoping that the situation will soon be normal,” he said. But the plywood manufacturers in the area said the situation was sliding gradually. “We don’t know what will happen next week,” they said.

Since many of the migrant workers do not have bank accounts, company owners are forced to pay them in cash. But the manufacturers said they were struggling to get new currencies, prompting many labourers to return home.

Mujeeb Rehman said nationalised and private banks have started account opening campaign in migrant pockets. Among the 8 lakh migrant workers, less than 10,000 labourers have bank accounts.

C Satheesh, Lead District Manager of Union Bank, said the bank made 250 migrants open accounts through a camp. “Now, we are planning a camp involving the public in Perumbavoor. All the people in the area will have a savings account soon,” he said.