In April 2023, Nazeer, a 23-year-old youth from West Bengal died after falling into a 15-ft deep smouldering fire pit of a plywood factory in Perumbavoor, a hub of migrant workers in Ernakulam district of Kerala. The pit was being used to burn waste from the factory. Nazeer’s body was recovered only a day later.
In March 2022, at a construction site in Kochi’s Special Economic Zone (SEZ), four migrant labourers from West Bengal got trapped under mud and choked to death. The deceased were Fijul Mondal, Noujesh Ali, Noor Amin Mondal and Kudoos Mondol. A 20-year-old worker from Odisha, Ratan Kumar Mandal was killed in a blast in a plywood factory in Perumbavoor in the same month.
In February 2023, four-year-old Asmina, who had gone to a plywood factory with her mother Hanufa Bibi, died after she fell into a 4-ft-deep waste water pit. The family hailed from West Bengal’s Cooch Behar.
With high wages, a social security outline drafted by the government, a free insurance scheme, and cultural inclusivity, Kerala attracts a large number of migrant labourers every year. However, workplace hazards faced by them are yet to be fully addressed. The recurring tragedies point to the lack of safety measures at the factories and absence of regular inspections by the state’s Labour Department. While cases involving deaths due to workplace accidents receive media attention, injuries that result in disabilities and loss of livelihood are not reported.
Compensation and insurance coverage in case of injury or death in a workplace accident often do not reach migrant labourers. While families of the four labourers who died at the SEZ in Kochi were given Rs 2 lakh in compensation by the government, the others are yet to receive it. George Mathew, an activist who works among migrant labourers, said, “The Rs 2 lakh compensation is given by the government. The employer is liable to pay further compensation under the Workmen Compensation Act.” TNM spoke to migrant labourers who have survived workplace accidents in Kerala about safety measures available, compensation amounts paid, and legal recourse sought.
Most of the state’s migrant workforce are former agricultural labourers who hail from drought-affected areas of West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, and other states. As they are unable to cultivate for a major part of the year, they migrate to Kerala for work. Several of them return to their home states for two or three months every year to cultivate the land they own. In Kerala, they are employed in industries involving arduous physical labour such as construction, iron and steel, carpentry, marine fishing, mining and quarrying, plywood, textile and apparel, and others. Many of these involve hazardous work environments, putting the unskilled labourers at high risk of workplace accidents.
A 2017 study by Binoy Peter and Vishnu Narendran of the Centre for Migration and Inclusive Development (CMID) stated, “Helmets, masks, chest guards, gloves, shoes, thermal insulators, safety nets, and life jackets are seldom provided to migrant workers. Migrants’ lack of awareness and the resultant complacency are used to their advantage by the employers, who perceive such investments as ‘unnecessary’.”
Advocate A Jayasankar, who has taken up many cases of worksite accidents of migrant workers, said that migrant labourers work at high risk in many of these industries. “Even though the law requires proper precaution to be taken while using dangerous machinery, it is seldom followed,” he said. According to Jayasankar, the labourers are not only at risk of accidents, but also of diseases. “Labourers in certain industries are prone to diseases as they are exposed to toxic fumes and chemicals. They work there without the required training or awareness,” the advocate said.
Eight hour work schedule rules are seldom followed in the unorganised working sector. Almost all the labourers TNM met work at least 12 hours on six days of the week, some even doing extra hours for more payment.
The CMID study found that “employers do not adhere to most of the labour legislations in the case of migrant workers. The Inter-state Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1979, is applicable only to a section of the migrant workers in Kerala, as a majority of them are recruited while they are in Kerala.” According to the Act, an inter-state migrant workman is a person who has been recruited in one state for employment in an establishment in another state.
A large number of migrant workers are employed in the plywood factories in Perumbavoor of Ernakulam district. Apart from Perumbavoor, which has the highest migrant population in Kerala, Aluva and Angamaly regions also have a number of factories that employ migrant labourers. It was in Perumbavoor that TNM met 28-year-old Sudipto Mondal, a West Bengal native who reached Kerala eight years ago. After working many jobs, he finally found employment in a coir factory three years ago. Things took a bad turn three months back when he lost his right arm in an accident at the factory. “I was taken to Specialist Hospital in Ernakulam and my arm was amputated. My friends here and George (labourers’ welfare activist based in Ernakulam) helped with financial assistance for the procedure. The owner of the factory did not give me any money,” Sudipto said.
Sudipto’s arm was amputated below the right shoulder. Even though he has been unable to go to work for the past three months, he has to stay back in Kerala to fight his case for compensation from the employer. “Until the accident, I used to earn well here. But now, I am clueless about what to do. I cannot return home, as there is no hope back in the village. Moreover, I have to stay here to fight the case by appointing a lawyer, so that I may get some compensation that can support my family until I get adjusted to this situation,” Sudipto said. He survived the three months since the accident with the support of fellow migrant workers who live near him.
Migrant labourers like Sudipto do not benefit from the social safety net that local labourers enjoy in Kerala. For instance, trade unions do not get involved in the issues of migrant labourers, said Jayasankar. “Most of the labourers are brought here through agents without proper records. If some accident happens, they are sent home by the employers. It is not easy for them to legally fight their case,” he added.
Sandhya, an activist who works among migrant labourers in Thiruvananthapuram, believes that the high rate of workplace accidents is due in large part to the fact that labourers are untrained. “Whether it is at construction sites or at factories, labourers have no proper awareness of safety measures as they are not trained. There is no mechanism to ensure that labourers follow safety measures either,” Sandhya said.
Migrant labourers have to approach the Kerala Industrial Tribunals (KIT) that fall under the Labour and Skills Department of the state government for matters pertaining to compensation, disputes, and other issues that arise within industries. At present, there are seven industrial tribunals in the state. In case of accidents at workplaces, labourers can also approach the labour courts.
The law that dictates compensation for workplace accidents is the 100-years-old Workmen Compensation Act of 1923. It states, “If personal injury is caused to a workman by accident arising out of and in the course of his employment, his employer shall be liable to pay compensation.” The amount to be paid will be decided based on the injury suffered.
However, employers and contractors shirk responsibilities in most cases, often hastily sending the injured labourer back to their home state. Left to fend for themselves, it is not easy for labourers to stay back and fight their case. Only a handful do that, while others lack awareness about their legal rights and return home empty handed.
Ameerul, a 32-year-old from West Bengal, is among those who returned to their home states after an accident. Speaking to TNM over phone, he said, “I fell from a building that was under construction in Thiruvananthapuram. For many days, I was under treatment in a government hospital there. After I got discharged, some of my friends and I had asked for compensation from the contractor. He, however, did not help.”
Ameerul was engaged in the construction of a large apartment complex when he met with the accident. “We did not know who to approach for compensation and other help. I returned home with the help of friends. Now I stay here and my younger brother has gone to Kerala for work. I am still not able to walk,” he told TNM.
Unlike Ameerul, Mahesh Kumar (38) from Bihar chose to stay back in Kerala even after he suffered severe injuries in a workplace accident and lost two fingers. He was working at a construction site in Kozhikode when he was injured in a workplace accident. “I need to stay back here by any means. If I go back, I will be an additional burden on my family. Neither the contractor who hired me, nor the owner of the project enquired after me. Even though I met the contractor several times after the accident, he refused to give me a single rupee,” Mahesh said.
Unfortunately, Mahesh, and many like him, are not aware that they can file a case at the Kerala Industrial Tribunal and that they can move legally for compensation.
Like Mahesh, Azhakesan, a labourer from Tamil Nadu, too lost his leg fingers in a workplace accident. But the latter received Rs 5 lakh in compensation because a welfare organisation called the Progressive Workers' Organisation constantly supported him and arranged a lawyer to get compensation. Azhakesan’s example is proof that labourers are compensated for workplace accidents only if an NGO or an activist supports them through the process of approaching the tribunal for compensation. “Very few victims approach the tribunal. It takes more than a year to finish the case and it is not possible for them to stay here and attend the hearings consistently. Most of the time, these incidents go unreported,” said George, who also serves as the coordinator of the Progressive Workers' Organisation.
Advocate Jayasankar said that employers’ hesitance to pay for treatment and immediate compensation can also be due to certain provisions in the Workmen Compensation Act. Pointing to a lacunae in the law, Jayasankar said, “Any amount paid to an aggrieved worker by the employer outside the court will not be considered as compensation under this Act. So the money spent by the employer for treatment or as immediate compensation will not be considered if the case reaches the court.”
Jayasankar elaborated on the other constraints that the existing law brings with it. “As per the law, settlements should be done through court. So these labourers who are injured or have undergone amputation will have to stay back here, even when they are unable to find work. How is that possible? It can take two to four years for a settlement in the court, which makes it impossible for injured workers to stay back. So in some cases we try for out-of-court settlements,” he said.
The Kerala government’s Labour Department has no data on workplace accidents involving migrant labourers. Even though the Department claims that it conducts frequent inspections at workplaces, labourers and activists on ground deny it. A Labour Department official who spoke to TNM on the condition of anonymity said, “Many accidents, and even deaths, take place. Most of the time, the Department comes to know about such incidents only after the media reports on them. Besides the few activists who work among these labourers, no one else will inform us.”
The official added that employers try their best to prevent the reporting of untoward incidents. “There are many cases where the employers have sent the worker who met with the accident immediately back to their village, after paying a meagre amount. Thereafter, no record or evidence of the accident will exist,” the official said.
Migrant labourers are not only unaware of their rights to compensation, many of them also do not know that they are eligible for the state government’s free insurance scheme. Five years ago, the Kerala government launched Aawaaz, a free medical insurance scheme for migrant labourers. The scheme involves medical treatment worth Rs 15,000 per year and insurance coverage of Rs 2 lakh for accident deaths. However, a TNM Follow Up story published in December 2022 had revealed that only 347 of the 5.16 lakh (a mere 0.07%) migrant labourers who registered under the scheme have benefited from it.