One of the towns with the largest migrant population in the state (over 100,000 migrants) is Perumbaavoor.

Perumbavoor is a historic place located at Bank of Periyar (Poorna River) in Ernakulam District in the Indian state of Kerala. It lies in the north-eastern tip of the Greater Cochin area and is also the headquarters of Kunnathunad Taluk. Perumbavoor is famed in the state for wood industries and small-scale industries. Ernakulam lies 30 km southwest of Perumbavoor. The town lies between Angamaly and Muvattupuzha on the Main Central Road (MC), which connects Thiruvananthapuram to Angamaly through the old Travancore part of Kerala. Perumbavoor lies in the banks of river Periyar.

The economy of Perumbavoor town is highly dependent on more than one lakh migrant workers from different Indian states. Perumbavoor provides all facilities to them, like labour camps, social awareness programs, entertainment programs, and health and educational care, including a special school for children of migrant workers.

Following is study about Migrant labours in Perumbavoor.

Most the respondents were males who were below the age of 30 years.58% of the Respondents were Muslims and 42% were Hindus. It was found that 10% of the respondents were working for a period of less than one year and 36% respondents were working for a period of 1to 2 years.

58% of the respondents dwelled in room and 42% in house .10% of the respondents were working for a period of less than one year and 36% respondents were working for a period of 1to 2 years.70% of the respondents used common toilet and 30% of them used individual toilet. In the case of majority of the respondents,the number of inmates in a room was 5 to 10. For another 36% of them, it was 10to 15 and again, for 4 % of the respondents, the number of inmates in a room was 15 to 20. 68% of the respondents were using common cooking arrangements and 32% of them were using individual cooking arrangements.

Most the Respondents were using gas. Only 6% of the respondents were using other fuel for cooking .54% respondents were paying Rs. 200 to 400 as monthly rent. 66% were not residing at their work place. However, 34% were residing at their work place. Most of the respondents got information about employment opportunities from their friends.32% of them got information from relatives and 24% of them got information from the contractor. Most of the respondents raised funds from Parents and relatives to reach Kerala. For 70% of the respondents, the number of members in the family was 5 to 10.

20 % of them had 10 to 15 members in their family .62% of the respondents were working under the contractors whereas, 38% of them worked under a casual employer . 48% of the workers got employment for a period of 6 days in a week.28% of the respondents were employed in the construction sector, 24% of them were engaged in trade, 20% of them were in manufacturing, 12% of them were engaged in agriculture and 14% of them were engaged in hotel and restaurant activities . 58% respondents were unskilled workers and 42% of them were skilled workers. It was found that only 10% of the respondents were getting above Rs.800 as daily wages.The frequency of sending moneyto home by 38% of the respondents wasonce in two months.The correlation co-efficient between daily wages and remittance to home is 0.246 which means 24.6%. There is a positive correlation between wages and amount sent to home by the respondents. When daily wages increase by 100%, the amount remitted by the respondents increases by 24.6%. The correlation is significant at 5% level .

Therefore, the null hypothesis H01 stating that there is no significant relationship between the daily wages of the respondents and their monthly remittance to home is rejected.No single respondent remitted more than Rs. 50,000 at a time. Most of them (68%) remitted less than Rs. 20,000 at a time.36% of the respondents sent money through their own account and 28% of them sent money through others‟ bank account, 20% sent money through post office and only 4% of the respondents were depending on contractors for sending money.

Conclusion

Migration causes changes in the distribution of jobs, income and economic resources in both the sending and receiving regions, and thus, structural transformation of rural and urban economy. Neither the social and cultural impacts of migration can be under looked. The conclusion is that; most the respondents were males below the age of 30 years. The respondents dwelled in rooms and in houses. Most the respondents used common toilet than individual toilets. Most of the respondents got information about employment opportunities from their friends. Most of the respondents raised funds from parents and relatives to reach Kerala. Construction, trade and manufacturing are the main sectors of working by the respondents. More than half of the respondents were unskilled workers.