TN TO HOLD SURVEY OF INTERSTATE MIGRANT WORKERS

AMID concerns raised by political parties that large number of migrant workers could get added to Tamil Nadu's electoral rolls, the state's labour department is set to conduct a survey of interstate migrant workers for the first time to get a realistic picture of their population in TN.

- NIRUPAMA VISWANATHAN @Chennai

The objective is to understand migration patterns, nature of work, health and living conditions. Though termed a survey, the exercise is aiming at 100% enumeration of every migrant worker with a rough target of finishing the exercise within six months.

Earlier this month, numerous parties, including the ruling DMK and its allies, based on a media report, expressed fears that over 6.5 lakh migrant workers from Bihar could get included in TN's rolls, following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in Bihar.

The SIR reportedly removed 65 lakh voters, including those who had migrated permanently to other states.

HOWEVER, TN has no reliable data to arrive at a fair estimate of the number of interstate migrant workers, let alone accurate information on workers from specific states.