CHAPTER-2

METHODOLOGY
Title

Socioeconomic Problems among Migrant Laborers Working in

Construction Sites
Statement of the Problem
There are around two million Keralites working in the gulf and many more in
various parts of India and abroad. The state faces labor shortages in its booming
construction sector and the traditional agricultural sector as study based on
employment status indicates. Nowadays the state has been witnessing large
inflow of migrant laborers from West Bengal, Bihar, UP, Uttarakhand, Assam and
Manipur. The interstate migrant laborers from different places migrated to Kerala
because of higher wages for unskilled labor given here. The wage in Assam,
Bihar, Orissa, Sikkim, Tamilnadu etc is comparatively very low. Here they earn
as little as Rs.200 as daily wages while it is Rs.400-600 per day in Kerala. Also,
as elsewhere, the migrant workers coming here were pushed out of their native
places because of unemployment or underemployment in agriculture and other
sectors.
The migrant laborers are usually brought in by labor contractors.
The contractors make a handsome profit from the wages given to the poor
laborers. Even after this they are earning much more than what they earn in their
native says the labor department officials. It is also known that the contract mafia
exploits them socially, psychologically and economically because they are
vulnerable in many ways.
The exploitation is in various forms. One of the major reasons for this is
the lack of proper and well-defined laws in the state that can cater to the well

being of this working class and uphold their dignity as well as their right to live.
The other reason is that these laborers are poorly educated and hence are not able
to stand up for their rights. Language is another major hindrance. Although the
contractors generally understand Hindi, the migrants hardly understand the
regional language Malayalam. Being unable to speak to the local community or
the service providers in their language makes them vulnerable on many
occasions. Eventually their health, living conditions and well-being are
compromised.
The official says it is extremely difficult to maintain a close surveillance on
the employment of migrant laborers. The labor contractors are required to take a
license to deploy migrant labor. Sometimes, the laborer already employed here
also brings his friends and relatives here after they pay a visit to their native
place. And it becomes very difficult for the department to keep a record of these
new arrivals.
This study aims reasons for the sufferings of the migrant
laborers in Kerala. For this purpose, the following parameters were considered:
1.Family background
2.Savings attitude and their economic stability
3.Reasons for choosing to migrate to Kerala on contract basis
4.Language barrier
5.Health and well being
6.Cultural constraints
7.Food consumption
8.Mobility

Objectives
1.To find out the reasons for migration among the respondents.
2.To analyze the socioeconomic problems faced by these workers
3.To understand the health status of migrant workers in Kerala.
4.To find out what kind of mode of recruitment is been scheduled and their
terms and conditions?
5.To find out what kind of cultural problems are faced by these workers
and how does it impact upon the physical and mental well-being among
them?
Hypothesis

1. Higher the income, higher will be their satisfaction in their work

life.
2. Higher the duration of life in the present living condition, the
more will be their cultural adaptation

Definition of concepts
(a)Migrant laborer

Migrant labors are those who come from other states for work. A
large number of migrants from states like Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan,
West Bengal, Orissa etc come to Kerala in search of employment.
Inter state migrant is a social hazard. The migrant workers are
subjected to exploitation and they are paid very less wages. These

people do not stay permanently at any place. They do work in a place

and leave for new work once the assignment is over. As they stay in
untidy and unhealthy environment they are prone to various diseases.
They do not bother about their health, wage or environment. Same is
the condition of women workers who are recruited from Kerala to
work in North India. The system of employment now prevalent in our
state is the contract system.
(B) Migration:
Migration is a dynamic feature of any society. migration is defined as
a process of movement of an individual from the place of birth or or
normal residence to a new place of residence.
(b) Migration in Kerala:
Kerala is witnessing large inflow of migrant labor from different
parts of the country in recent years. Though laborers from state as far
as West Bengal, Bihar Uttarpradesh, Nepal, Assam and Orissa now
flock to Kerala higher wages for unskilled labor in the state, large
opportunities for employment and shortage of labor, paradoxically
despite the high unemployment rate in the state led to the massive
influx of migrant labor to the state. With signs of rapid growth of state

economy and the increase in activities particularly in the

infrastructure and construction sectors, the interstate migration

expected to grow faster in the coming years.

Pilot study
Pilot study was conducted in Pothencode panchayath and nearby areas of
among migrant laborers.
During the pilot study the researcher observed that long distance migration
from states like west Bengal and Bihar dominated the inflow of migrant workers
in recent years. The researcher found that their living condition is most
deplorable, most of them live together in either rented houses or their work site
scaffolds and they have no hygienic sanitation. The amount and pattern of food
habit is found to be more or less same for all the migrants and the researcher
understands that they do not have enough to spend on nutritious food because
for the lack of money. The saving and investment habits among the migrants are
also found to be very poor. They are not legally registered as a laborer and
continue to stay without any consent from labor authority. The researcher could
find that they are still very poor and there has not been any change in the
condition of migrants like psycho-social progression and economic growth even
after migration.

Sampling
Purposive sampling used in the present study due to the availability of migrant
labourers at Pothencode panchayath. As the present study is completely related to
migrant workers, those who came from West Bengal and Bihar are purposively
selected. There are 134 migrant labourers migrant laborers were working in
various sectors like construction, casual labour, agriculture, road work, masonry
etc could be selected by using purposive sampling.

Research Design
Present study was descriptive in nature. It describes the socioeconomic
conditions of the migrant community under examination.
Sources of data
For this study both primary and secondary data were collected. The primary data
is collected from respondents. The secondary data were collected from books,
articles, journals, internet etc.

Tools
Interview schedule is used for this study as the respondents do not know the
native language. Case Work method is being adopted here. It helped in grasping
the idiographic understanding of the particular case (the migrant community of
Pothencode) under examination. The rationale behind using this method is that
the migrant workers in Pothencode being a cross-section of the migrant workers`
population of Kerala seems to merit intensive investigation. Intensive qualitative
inquiry which is a characterstic feature of the case work method is suitable to
elucidate a lucid account of the social life of the migrant laborers in the new
social environment.
Variables
Age ,Education, Marital status, Type of family, etc are used in this study
Analysis of data
The collected data is analyzed and prepared the report