Kerala's Gulf connection continues to remain strong
Kerala's Gulf connection remains strong, but people migrating in search of jobs are finding alternative destinations. This information is contained in the Economic Review for 2004 presented by the government in the state assembly recently.
The review, prepared by the state Planning Board, citing a recent study by the Centre for Development Studies (CDS), Thiruvananthapuram, states that the number of emigrants from Kerala to the Gulf countries went up by 35 per cent in the past five years. Remittances by Keralites in the Gulf states also went up by 35 per cent during the same period.
The latest CDS study shows that the number of Keralites in the Gulf countries went up from 1.36 million in 1999 to 1.84 million in 2004. Remittances made by emigrants went up from Rs136.52 billion in 1999 to Rs184.65 billion in 2004.
Malappuram district has the largest number of emigrants. However, its share in migration has registered a fall during the last five years. In 1999, it accounted for 296,710 out of a total of 1,361,955 emigrants. Thrissur was in the second place with 161,102 emigrants and Thiruvananthapuram in the third with 130,705.
The number of emigrants from the State went up to 1,838,478 in 2004. While Malappuram remained at the top of the table, the number of emigrants from the district fell to 271,787. It was the only district that recorded a fall in outward migration. Thrissur retained the second place with 178,867 emigrants. The number of emigrants from Thiruvananthapuram went up to 168,046 but the district had to yield the third place to Palakkad, where the number went up from 116,026 to 177,876. In presenting these figures, the Planning Board offered no explanation for the slowing down of migration from Malappuram or for the big jump in Palakkad.
Thrissur, which received Rs.32.34 billion in 2004, was the largest beneficiary of foreign remittances. Malappuram came second with Rs28.92 billion and Thiruvananthapuram followed with Rs19.27 billion. The Planning Board, wryly comments that the total remittances by the emigrants were seven times what the State government received from the centre as budgetary support.
Of the emigrants, 43.7 per cent were Muslims, 31.2 per cent Hindus and 25.1 per cent Christians. While the rate of growth in migration among Christians was 53.9 per cent, that among Muslims was only 17.3 per cent. There was a spurt in female migration. Women accounted for 16.85 per cent of the emigrants in 2004 as against only about nine per cent in 1999.
The CDS study has brought to light some changes in the pattern of emigration. In 1995 the Gulf countries had accounted for nearly 95 per cent of the emigration from Kerala. The region's share of emigration has now dropped to about 90 per cent. Correspondingly, the share of the USA, Europe and Africa has risen from five per cent to 10 per cent.
In the early days of the oil boom, it was the UAE that attracted the largest number of emigrants from Kerala. Later Saudi Arabia became the major employer of job-seekers from the state. The new study indicates that the UAE has again emerged as the most preferred destination.
The number of emigrants who have returned from the Gulf countries went up from 739,245 in 1999 to 893,942 in 2004. Of them, 141,537 are in Malappuram district, 109,101 in Kozhikode and 103,059 in Thiruvananthapuram. Saudi Arabia accounted for the largest number of "returnees," followed by the UAE.
The average age of the emigrants who have returned home is 49 years. The Economic Review says 4.0 per cent of them are employed in government, semi-government or cooperative sector and 17.9 per cent in other organised sectors. As many as 31.2 per cent are said to be "self-employed in non-agriculture," 0.5 per cent in "political and social activities" and a whopping 46.4 per cent in "other activities"--euphemisms that expose the limitations of the government's rehabilitation programmes for them.
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