Governor Sheila Dikshit has called for a detailed study on the reasons why women migrate abroad in search of jobs despite massive increase in employment opportunities available for women within the country.
Inaugurating a two-day national consultation on ‘Problems and safety of Indian female migrant workers’ organised by the National Commission for Women (NCW) here on Friday, Ms. Dikshit said that women were being forced to migrate abroad due to financial and domestic problems and inequitable distribution of wealth and natural resources, she said.
Chairing the inaugural session, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy pointed out that while there were about 2 million migrants from Kerala working in different parts of the world, migrants from other places working in Kerala were contributing to the development of the State. Delivering the keynote address, Social Welfare Minister M.K. Muneer regretted the absence of exact statistics and database of migrants and pointed out that migrants to Gulf countries faced violation of human rights.
Kerala State Women’s Commission chairperson K.C. Rosakkutty, NCW members Charu WaliKhanna and Shamina Shafiq, Andhra Pradesh State Women’s Commission chairperson Tripurana Venkataratnam, and Chair Professor, Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) Research Unit on International Migration at the Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram, S. Irudayarajan spoke.
The consultation discussed the need for pre-departure training for those getting ready to migrate abroad for employment and measures needed to ensure transparency of the recruitment process, particularly of women migrants.
