Panaji: With business opportunities opening up in the state, there may be a trickle of migrant workers coming back.
On Thursday, state Labour Commissioner Raju Gawas said there is a likelihood of migrants coming back to the state due to the easing of lockdown restrictions. “With borders open, we cannot deny that migrants could be coming back,” he said.
Gawas, however, added that the labour department has not received reports of migrant arrivals. “There is no data on the number of workers returning. People are coming back but whether they are labourers or not, we cannot say,” said Gawas, speaking to this daily.
After departing in haste due to the hardships caused by the coronavirus-related lockdown, migrants in several states are seen coming back in search of work.
President of Construction and Real Estate Developers Association of India (CREDAI), Goa, Nilesh Salkar, said construction activities are expected to pick up in the state, as some of the migrant workers on site have come back.
“I believe that some of the migrants employed in construction activities are coming back,” said Salkar. He added that the labour shortage situation in the local construction industry is manageable compared to other states. “Several developers took care of their workers. The industry faced an exodus of workers in March and April but by May the trend changed and some of the workers stayed back.”
Realty developer John Britto, director, Acron Estates, said the 300-odd construction workers employed by his company stayed back, as they were provided with food, ration and money.
According to Atul Jadhav of New Era Handling Agency, a labour contracting firm, most of the Goan unit owners have started talking to their workers to return. “The workers will come back but they want to stay for a few days more with their families. The rising number of COVID-19 cases is making the workers delay their return,” said Jadhav. He said the permanent workers employed in local industrial units stayed back, while the temporary workers left during the lockdown.
Around 85,000 migrant workers have left the state by rail, on the Shramik Express trains arranged to transport workers to their home states.
According to the labour department, the state has about three lakh migrant workers, with the highest number employed in the construction industry followed by fishing trawlers and restaurants.
Migrants in the fishing industry are expected to return when the fishing season restarts in August, while those in the restaurants and hotel trade could return when the tourism industry reopens in the state.