Kerala targets drug abuse among migrant workers

The Kerala government recently launched a comprehensive campaign against drug abuse among migrant labourers in various industry sectors as part of a state-wide anti-drugs initiative. The ‘Kavach 2022’ campaign, organised by Kerala’s Department of Labour and Skills, kicked off between 15-22 October and focused both on educating migrant workers about the dangers of drug use and addiction and offering medical advice and help to those who using illegal drugs.

The campaign is being conducted in a variety of languages, including Assamese, Bengali, Hindi and Odia. There are activities such as anti-drug awareness marches, medical camps aimed at raising understanding about the dangers of drug use and addiction and a cultural rally in Perumbavoor town attended by around 3,000 migrant workers.

Inaugurating the state-wide campaign, Kerala’s minister for labour and skills V Sivankutty said guest workers, as the state government describes migrant labourers, play an integral role in the manufacturing, distribution and service sectors of the southern state.

Sivankutty added that Kerala’s government is implementing several welfare schemes for migrant workers and was offering medical help to any labourers who were using or addicted to illegal drugs, according to a news report by Outlook India. However, he warned that assistant labour officers would be regularly visiting all labour camps in Kerala and if they discovered signs of the consumption, exchange or distribution of any kind of drugs, the police and excise departments would be called in to take “strict action”.

He told Outlook India: “The [Kerala] government is taking the reports of isolated criminal tendencies and drug menace among them [migrants] very seriously. The possible spread of drug addiction in migrant labour camps will be assessed and, if found, stringent action will be taken against it.”

Anyone can pass on information about drug consumption among migrant labourers to the local labour officer, who in turn will forward this to local police and excise officials and ensure that the “necessary action is taken”, added Sivankutty.

Meanwhile, in late October, Kerala’s industries minister P. Rajeeve urged migrant workers to not use drugs and to alert the authorities if they discover that drugs are being used or sold in their workplaces or lodgings, according to The Hindu newspaper. Rajeeve added that the use of drugs was spreading at a rapid pace across society.

The campaign comes a top excise official claimed that the use of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances has increased significantly in Kerala following the closure of liquor outlets over the past two years.

State excise commissioner Rishiraj Singh added that drug abuse was high in Kochi, the commercial capital of Kerala.

However, campaigners say that an anti-drugs campaign targeting the migrant community in Kerala may inadvertently reinforce the “misguided public notion” that migrants are major users of illegal drugs.

Speaking to The Hindu newspaper, Benoy Peter, executive director of the Centre for Migration and Inclusive Development, said: “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, the 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.”