Migration from Kerala has played a vital role in the state’s development. 50 lakh Malayalis depend on Non-Resident Keralites for their living, reveals the 2013 Non-resident Malayali census conducted by Kerala’s Economics and Statistics Department.
Every third house in Kerala has a person working in the Gulf, and every year these people send home more than Rs 1 trillion reports LiveMint.
Where do they come from?
Data released by the state planning board shows that 18 per cent of total NRKs are from Malappuram district, which is the highest and it is followed by Thrissur district with 11 per cent. The hilly district Idukki has lowest with one per cent.
Though there is a perception that Kasaragod has a high number of non-resident Keralites, the data says that the district is second lowest with only four per cent.
According to the data provided by the Economics and Statistics Department, 87.8 per cent of NRKs living abroad engage in some work or other. Men account for 93 per cent of the working population while women contribute only 7 per cent. Despite Idukki having the lowest number of NRKs, the district has the highest number of working women with 32.83 per cent. Kottayam has the second highest number of women in the work force among NRKs with 31.68 per cent.
Now where do they go?
UAE is the preferred destination for Malayalis with 35.5 per cent of NRKs choosing to migrate there. Saudi Arabia is home to 29.5 per cent of NRKs. Women, however, prefer to go to Western countries with 34 per cent of female NRKS migrating to UK and 32 per cent to Canada.
What do they do?
67.8 per cent of NRKs are working as teachers, bank professionals and businessmen. Drivers and salespersons are the other career choices for Malayalis making up 11.85 per cent and 11 percent of the migrant workforce respectively.
In a district wise analysis most of the NRKs who work as doctors are from Thiruvananthapuram district, 14.39 per cent. It is followed by Kottayam with 14.38 per cent.
Kottayam sends the highest number of nurses with 23.3 per cent, while Ernakulam has seen 13.47 per cent engineers migrate.
16.69 per cent of NRK teachers are from Pathanamthitta.