‘Wage theft,’ a bane of Gulf returnees
The Hindu
A survey among 3,345 Keralite migrant workers concludes that 11% of them have been forced to return without severance package and wages for several years, with the amount translating to ₹62.58 crore
As many as 11% of migrant workers from Kerala who were forced to return from Gulf countries during the COVID-19 pandemic have not got their wages, according to a study on wage theft conducted by the Centre for Indian Migrant Studies (CIMS). The report points at remittance loss to Kerala owing to this, which is a cause for worry as remittances make up more than a quarter of the State Gross Domestic Product. The survey was conducted among 3,345 migrant workers who either returned home or are stranded abroad after being abandoned by their employers. A total of 397 workers out of them, making up more than 11% of the surveyed, were found to be victims of ‘wage theft,’ signifying termination without notice and withholding or deduction of wages and other benefits. Out of them, 90% belong to the construction sector, 2% manufacturing, 2% transportation and 2.5% comprising other sectors such as domestic work, retail, and medical. According to figures maintained by NoRKA Roots, the field agency of Department of Non-Resident Keralites, a total of 15.36 lakh migrant workers returned until July 15 this year since the outbreak of the pandemic, out of whom 10.98 lakh indicated job loss as reason for return.A crowd comprising farmers, researchers, professors, students, and horticulture enthusiasts thronged the ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR), Hesaraghatta, Bengaluru, on Friday for the inaugural ceremony of the Triphal Diversity Show which showcased 300 mango, 100 jackfruit, and 100 banana genotypes in collaboration with ICAR-National Research Centre for Banana, Tiruchirappalli.
The State government on Friday constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT), headed by Additional Director-General of Police, Manish Kharbikar of the Economic Offences division of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to probe the alleged multi-crore scam in the government-run Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation.