Labourers from Assam, West Bengal in Kerala leave en masse to vote after SIR concerns

A large number of migrant labourers from Assam and West Bengal have left for their home States to exercise their franchise in the Assembly polls in the wake of concerns related to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, pushing hotel, hospitality, and real estate sectors in Kerala into a crisis.

It is a double whammy of sorts for the hotel and hospitality sector in districts such as Thiruvananthapuram, Alappuzha, Ernakulam, Kozhikode, and Palakkad, which has already been hit by the shortage of LPG cylinders after the U.S.-Israel-Iran war. G. Jayapal, State president, Kerala Hotel and Restaurant Association (KHRA), says while some restaurants are opening late, others are closing down early. Many have stopped offering afternoon meals. “We are incurring heavy financial losses because we are already forced to buy LPG cylinders from private distributors at a higher price. It is getting difficult to pay the rent and manage the staff salary with this revenue,” he says.The Assembly elections in West Bengal is scheduled for April 23 and April 29. In Assam, it was held on April 9. Almost 70% of the staff in hotels and restaurants in Kozhikode district are migrant labourers engaged in cleaning, service jobs, and helping cooks. The staff at a major restaurant chain famous for its non-vegetarian spread say they have cut down the working hours and re-arranged the shifts of labourers. Hotels which used to remain open round the clock have been compelled to wind up their operations early. While the Assam natives are returning, those from West Bengal may come back only after this month-end.