The State government’s mass anti-drug campaign targeting the migrant community may have inadvertently reaffirmed the misguided public perception about the community, fears a section of activists, though not all are in agreement.
A mega cultural rally attended by nearly 3,000 migrant workers and a medical camp were held in Perumbavoor town on Friday as part of the Labour department’s migrant-centric anti-drug campaign, ‘Kavach 2022.’
“Already, there was public perception of migrants being largely into substance abuse, though a study conducted by us a couple of years ago debunked it. Such a high-profile campaign would only reaffirm that misplaced notion, thus creating stigma. Instead, focus should be more on creating informants within the community so that the law can catch up with drug networks controlled by natives. In fact, compared to the widespread use among natives, including even schoolchildren, very few among migrants are into drugs,” said Benoy Peter, executive director of the Centre for Migration and Inclusive Development (CMID).
According to the study, only 0.5% among the migrant community are into either injectable or non-injectable drugs.
Perumbavoor municipal chairman T.M. Zakkir Hussain said that since the anti-drug campaign was being held across the State targeting all sections of society, it was unlikely to cast a shadow on the migrant community. “The fact is that drug networks controlled by natives are using migrants as a shield for pushing their business,” he said.
Kismat (Kerala Interstate Migrants Alliance for Transformation), an NGO for the welfare of migrants run by Bengaluru Rural Educational and Development Society, said legal awareness about the implications of possessing and storing drugs could only do the migrant community good. “This will help them say no to local networks, which use them to sell drugs. Migrants hardly have any clue about the consequences of getting involved with drugs,” said Kismat State coordinator Sandhya Ramakrishnan.
The Labour department claimed that ‘Kavach 2022’ had been a resounding success covering around 300 migrant labour camps in Ernakulam since its launch. Awareness leaflets in different regional languages are being distributed among migrants while interpreters are also being used to convey the message to migrants during field visits.
“The objective is to maximise awareness among the community ahead of the stern crackdown that the enforcement agencies have warned of shortly,” said T.G. Vinod Kumar, District Labour Officer (Enforcement).
