International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) |Volume VI, Issue X, October 2022|ISSN 2454-6186

Welfare Schemes for Migrant Workers in Kerala

Dr. Preemy P. Thachil
Department of Economics, Sree Sankara College, Kalady, India

Abstract: Kerala has been a front- runner among the states in India, introducing social security schemes for different vulnerable sections of the society. These schemes, executed mainly through different welfare boards, and have been successful in extending social security to a limited extent to the majority of the vulnerable groups especially migrants. In India, social security is enumerated in the Directive Principles of State Policy and is one of the subjects in the Concurrent List in the Constitution of India, which is federal in nature. One of the major priorities of the state government is extending the coverage of social security net to workers in the unorganized sector (Government of Kerala, 2009). This paper examines key actions by the government to promote the social security of the migrant workers.

Key words: Vulnerable groups, Migrants, Social security schemes,

I. INTRODUCTION

Kerala is the first state in the country to enact a social security outline for the migrant workers. The details of schemes/programmes executed by Government for welfare of unskilled and skilled migrant labourers in the country include such as; Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyan, Pradhan Mantri SVANIDHI Scheme, Aatm Nirbhar Bharat, Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana, One Nation One Ration Card, financial assistance to building and other construction workers etc.
‘Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA)’ is a universal education programme of Government of India to provide free and compulsory education to the children of 6-14 years age group under Right to Education, which is open to the children of inter-state migrant workers as well. Important departments like Ministry of Minority Affairs, Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Department of School Education and Literacy provide scholarships to diverse target groups of students including children of Migrant workforces. All these scholarships are synchronized through National Scholarship Portal.
In order to safeguard the concern of the migrant workers, the Central Government had passed the Inter-state Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1979. This Act has now been incorporated in the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 and the Code commonly known as OSH Code, offers for decent working situations, minimum wages, grievances redressal devices, protection from misuse and exploitation, enrichment of the skills and social security to all group of organised and unorganised workers including migrant workers.