“I can’t go there nor stay here, I had to start this shop as my family needs to survive but the business is not really going well,” says Sanjeev K, a Gulf migrant worker turned chicken shop owner, who returned home to Telangana from Dubai in October 2020.
Sanjeev hails from Nizamabad, which is one of the districts that sees widespread Gulf migration to countries such as Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Oman, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait in search of livelihood.
While Sanjeev managed to open a chicken shop, many returnees have already started going back or making plans to head back to the Gulf owing to uncertain conditions prevailing at home.
Santhosh M, a 23-year-old from Yellareddypet in Rajanna Sircilla district, has been working as an agricultural labourer ever since he dropped out from studies.
He was planning to go work in Dubai in 2020 like many from his peer group, however, the pandemic ruined his plans. He is currently waiting for his visa to fly to Dubai.
When asked why he wants to go to the Gulf at the present juncture, Santhosh says, “Some are saying that things are not really better in Dubai (UAE) and other Gulf countries for employment, but is the situation better here? My family doesn’t have any land, even if I want to do farming, no matter what at least one of us has to go to the Gulf to clear debts and secure a somewhat better life for the family.”
Rajanna Sircilla, a new district carved out of the erstwhile Karimnagar, has a large number of Gulf migrants. While many are queuing up at travel agencies to fly back to the country they were working in before the pandemic, several Gulf migrants and migrants’ rights activists allege that their labour has become cheaper in the Gulf countries owing to reduction in the Minimum Referral Wages.
Earlier this month, Gulf Joint Action Committee (JAC), a migrants’ welfare organisation based in Sircilla, staged a protest in front of the District Collector’s office after giving a representation to the authorities demanding withdrawal of the Minimum Referral Wages circulars issued by the Union Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in September 2020.
According to the activists, the circulars drastically reduced their pay scale affecting their minimum wages in different companies. They also point out that the MEA took the decision without considering the concerns of labourers or conducting any consultations.
Speaking to TNM, Janagama Srinivas, Gulf JAC representative and a member of the Dubai-based Indian People’s Forum (IPF), says, “Many came back in the backdrop of COVID-19 but the situation here is also not hopeful. As some Gulf countries are slowly starting to open up again, people want to go back there for work.”
He adds, “Unfortunately, there is no rehabilitation process for returnees and there is no assurance of fair and dignified wages to migrants who want to go back. The Minimum Referral Wages circulars brought down the wages for all categories, this will impact the labourers who are going back with a lot of hope.”
Most workers from the state are employed in the construction and sanitation sectors, in electronics companies, and as drivers.
Why return to the Gulf?
Following the pandemic, over 40 lakh Indians were brought back to India under the Vande Bharat Mission. Thousands arrived back in the state, which is a major contributor of migrant workers with an estimated 8 lakh migrant workforce.
However, lack of alternative livelihood and meagre earnings in petty jobs is now forcing these workers to look at going back to the Gulf.
A visit to any regional passport office shows young Gulf aspirants looking for a better future there despite the situation suggesting otherwise.
Srinivas M, who used to work as a driver in Dubai, came back to his hometown of Sadashivanagar in Kamareddy district in September 2020.
The lack of work and low pay he experienced in the last five months has made him want to go back to Dubai.
Srinivas says, “We cannot expect a decent pay here as a driver when compared to the UAE. Even if I want to do something on my own, I’d need an investment of a few lakhs. Neither do I have a support system nor savings to do that.”
Rakesh T, a 25-year-old from Sarangapur in Nirmal district, has a different story to tell. Owing to the lockdown in Dubai, the electronics company he was working with shut down leaving him without work for five months. He came back home in December 2020 and got married in January 2021, only to leave to the Gulf in February first week after finding a similar job in another company through his contacts.
Rakesh says, “Initially I thought I’d stay at home for some time at least, but I soon realised that it was not really affordable to do that. With my job I’m confident of sending home at least Rs 20,000 every month, but if I’d stayed back in India I don’t think I’d have been able to earn even Rs 3,000 a month.”
Rakesh says it’s not possible to survive in India without a steady income, which is only possible when there is some sort of rehabilitation or state support.
Northern Telangana, especially undivided Karimnagar, Nizamabad, Adilabad districts and other parts, have decades of history of migration, first to other cities in India like Mumbai and later to Gulf countries in search of greener pastures.
Aspirants lining up before travel agents are querying their peers who have already gone to the Gulf about self-quarantine procedures in view of COVID-19 guidelines in different countries.
Manda Bheem Reddy, president of the Hyderabad-based Emigrants Welfare Forum, says that migration from Telangana has become a part of people’s life and will continue given the prevailing situation and lack of alternatives to accommodate the workforce.
He adds, “Many people who came back home are starting to head back to the countries where they were working. Till such time that a proper rehabilitation mechanism is in place, migration to Gulf countries will continue.”
Reddy stresses on the need to roll back the minimum referral wage circulars issued by the MEA, as it will further exploit the migrant labourers from the country.
However, observers from the region who are familiar with the Gulf economy point out that the pandemic has dealt a double whammy to the migrants – because both staying back home and returning to the Gulf have become equally grim.