Paid Covid-19 test, 14-day quarantine made mandatory for all migrant workers returning to Kerala

With migrant workers, who left Kerala in the wake of Covid-19, starting to return to the state, the state government has made rapid antigen testing and 14 day quarantine mandatory for all.

An advisory issued by the Kerala government in this regard on Sunday said that contractors or agents or entrepreneurs or the migrant workers themselves would have to bear the test cost. It also directs that those who are bringing back the migrants themselves would have to arrange the quarantine facility.

The state government had opened an online registration facility on Covid Jagratha portal for migrant workers returning to the state. Already many from neighboring Tamilnadu reportedly reached the state.

Nearly three lakh migrant workers from Kerala left the state by Shramik trains. Many had also left the state by other means like hiring buses. However, a section of migrants, especially those employed in shops, had stayed back.

Now a major chuck of those who returned are desperate to come back, mainly due to financial crunches. Many key sectors like construction that were badly hit by unavailability of manpower were also wooing the migrants to return.

Shibin Jose, director of Kochi based KLR facility management, said that major chuck of their former employees who returned to their native places were now eager to return. But unavailability of transport facility was the hindrance. He also said that finding proper quarantine facility for all would be a challenging task for the employers and hence the government may preferably arrange institutional quarantine facility and the employers could be billed for it.

Meanwhile, the state government directive that all migrants should undergo antigen test at their own expense might not go down well with the migrants.

Benoy Petre, executive director of the Centre for Migration and Inclusive Development, said that mandating paid COVID test for all migrant workers could not be considered reasonable as at present tests were done only on those having any symptoms. Despite the COVID spike, if migrants are returning, it is due to their financial crunches.

Many migrant workers were being brought back by contractors for major projects. In such cases the employers would bear the cost of test. But a major chunk of migrant workers in Kerala were daily wage casual workers, he said.