Tamil Nadu lies in the southern-most part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Puducherry and the South Indian states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh. It also shares a maritime border with the nation of Sri Lanka. Tamil Nadu covers an area of 130,058 square kilometers and has a population of 75 million as per the 2011 census.
Tamil Nadu is the eleventh largest state by area and the sixth most populous state in India. The state was ranked sixth among the states in India according to the Human Development Index in 2011. Tamil Nadu is the second largest state economy in India with 4789 billion (US$71 billion) in Gross Domestic Product. The state has the highest number (10.56 per cent) of business enterprises and stands second in total employment (9.97 per cent) in India, with a population share of about 6 per cent of the nation’s total. Tamil Nadu was ranked the third most developed state in India based on a “Multidimensional Development Index” in a 2013 report published by a panel headed by current RBI governor Raghuram Rajan.
The Tamils were the forerunners of India’s migrant labourers. The 1830s witnessed the emergence of the ‘coolie migration’, where a large number of Indians, particularly Tamils were forcibly taken from their homeland to work as indentured labourers in British plantations in the Caribbean Islands (West Indies) and to the countries in Asia and Africa such as Burma, Ceylon, Malaysia, Mauritius and South Africa. The first stage of this forceful migration witnessed the Tamils taken too far off countries as indentured labourers to the sugar plantations. The second stage witnessed the assimilation and integration process in the host countries. Third stage witnessed the decolonization process in which some Tamils were made ‘Stateless’ and this problem exists even today. The fourth stage of migration witnessed in the 1970’s and 80’s saw a large number of workers leaving Tamil Nadu for Singapore, Malaysia and the Gulf when the South East Asian countries witnessed the ‘Economic miracle’. The oil rich Gulf countries during the oil crisis made ‘petro-dollars’ and had invested in modernization and required huge labour. India and particularly the states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu responded by sending huge labour force to the Gulf region. It is estimated by the Centre for Development Studies that there are 9 million Indians currently working in the Gulf region alone.
The Tamil Nadu Migration Survey (TMS 2015) was commissioned by the Non Residence Tamils (NRT) Welfare Board under the Commissioner of Rehabilitation, Tamil Nadu, through funding from the Tamil Nadu planning commission. Additional resources were provided by the Loyola Institute of Social Science Training and Research, Chennai, Centre for Diaspora Studies, M S University, Tirunelveli, Central University of Tamil Nadu, Thiruvarur and Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development Institute.
According to the TMS 2015, emigrants from Tamil Nadu living in any part of world are estimated to be 2.2 million. On the other hand, return emigrants who return after working abroad is estimated as 1.3 million. Emigration is a phenomenon that is observed throughout Tamil Nadu with Chennai (3.2 lakhs), Coimbatore (1.9 lakhs) and Ramanathapuram (1.4 lakhs) districts with the largest number of emigrants. Theni (13,802), Dharmapuri (14,594) and The Nilgiris (5,868) districts are ranked the lowest in this context. Among the taluks in Tamil Nadu, Ramanathapuram (92,915), Tiruchendur (63,892) and Agatheeswaram (63,100) have large number of emigrants. Interestingly, around 20 taluks in Tamil Nadu does not have any emigrants as per the TMS 2015. The Non-Resident Tamils (emigrants and return emigrants) were estimated to be3.5 million as per TMS 2015.Acording to the Kerala Migration Survey 2014, the emigrants, return migrants and Non-Resident Keralites were estimated as 2.4, 1.3 and 3.7 millions respectively.
Singapore reports the largest number of emigrants from Tamil Nadu which is 4.1 lakhs. The Gulf region comprises of the top 5 countries receiving emigrants from Tamil Nadu – with both UAE and Saudi Arabia accounting for 4.0 and 3.5 lakhs respectively. United States of America, the most sought after destination for high skilled emigrants with 3.0 lakhs and Malaysia with 1.9 lakhs are some of the other top countries preferred by Tamil Migrants. Gulf region (UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman and Kuwait) accounts for 1.1 million Tamil emigrants, which is half of the total emigrants from Tamil Nadu. On the other hand, 2.1 million or 86 per cent of Kerala emigrants were in the Gulf in 2014.
One of out of ten households in Tamil Nadu has one or more emigrants compared to one of out of five households in Kerala. Among emigrants, 15 per cent are women. Out of 2.2 million emigrants, 75 per cent are Hindus, 15 per cent Muslims and 10 per cent Christians.
The average cost of migration incurred by an emigrant from Tamil Nadu is Rs.1,08,112 compared to Rs. 76,243 for a Kerala emigrant. On an average, emigrants from Tamil Nadu pay Rs.32,000 higher than their counterparts in Kerala. Like Kerala, the highest expenditure is the money given to recruitment agencies, which is 50.4 per cent of the total, followed by visa charges and cost of air tickets. However, the average cost of emigration reported for of the return emigrants in Tami Nadu was Rs. 90, 340 which indicates that the cost of emigration has gone up in recent years. The GCC countries where half of the emigrants are concentrated spent on an average of Rs.76, 127 for migration. However, Tamil Migrants spent between Rs.82, 689 (Malaysia) to Rs.130, 251 (Singapore) to work in these countries. About 52 per cent emigrants had met the expenses from their own savings, whereas 44 per cent had received support from their parents. About one-fourth of the emigrants borrowed the required money from their friends or took loans from money lenders.
According to the TMS, the return emigrants in Tamil Nadu are estimated to be 1.3 million with 6.1 return emigrants per 100 households. The highest return emigrants households is enumerated in the Sivaganga district (35.1 per 100HH) followed by Perambalur district (34.7 return emigrants per 100 households), and both Nagapattinam and Ramanathapuram with 18.7 and 19.4 per 100 households respectively.
The channel through which the migrants move out are still dominated by the licensed, unlicensed and individual agents handling 41.7 per cent of the total emigration. Friends’ and relatives’ network channel accounts for 35.6 per cent of the emigration and remains a strong channel for potential migrants to go abroad for work.
According to the special survey conducted among return emigrants as part of the TMS, about 39.1 per cent of women reported that they have not received the promised salary as against 21.0 per cent among men. Similarly, 21 per cent of men and 11 per cent of women had problems in receiving their regular wages – either it was delayed or denied. However, 91 per cent of both men and women did not approach the Indian Embassy in the countries of destination when they had problems. On the reasons for return, 37.6 per cent of them reported that their contract was not extended and another 18.8 per cent mentioned that it was the family problems at home that caused their return. One of the major social costs of migration is indeed the strained family relations. Another 8 per cent reported lower wages at the countries of destination as the major reasons for return and another 8 per cent returned due to their poor health.
According to the TMS, the number of women emigrants is estimated to be 3.3 lakhs or 15 per cent of the total emigrants. Most of them leave for Gulf countries, Singapore and Malaysia to work as domestic helpers, cleaners, and to do odd jobs. The higher proportion of women emigrants is found in Qatar (11.8 per cent), Oman (11.2 per cent), United Arab Emirates (10.4 per cent), Kuwait (9.2 per cent), Singapore (8.8 per cent) and Malaysia (8.7 per cent).
The total number of women left behind due to husbands’ migration is estimated as 1 million and this is again not discussed in the policy circle. This number in Tamil Nadu is almost similar to the estimate of Gulf wives which stands at 1 million in Kerala. Such women were found highest in Perambalur (26.0 per cent) Sivaganga (19.1 per cent), Ramanathapuram (17.4 per cent) Ariyalur (13.5 per cent) and Pudukkottai (11.3 per cent).
The special survey conducted among women left behind (WLB), as part of the TMS, revealed that these women were more qualified than males in the general population. The average years of schooling among WLB is 10.7 years, higher than both males (8.5 years) and females (7.3 years) in the general category. Half of them married while their husbands were working abroad. About 90 per cent of them never visited the country that their husbands worked in. About 97 per cent of them communicated with their husbands through mobile phones. Eighty per cent of them received remittances directly from their husbands.
A Vast majority of WLB (81.5 per cent) could see a leap in their financial status owing to the migration of their husbands. Some of them could repay their debts (26.8 per cent), construct their own houses (21.1 per cent), purchase gold ornaments (12.1 per cent) and provide good education to their children (13.5). Majority of them gained social status and dignity in their social circle (49.9 per cent) .Their life style and quality of living were considerably improved (47.2 per cent) with the emigration of their husbands.
However, WLB experienced loneliness (69.9 per cent) and had to take up added responsibilities in the absence of their husbands (60.5 per cent) which were indicated as the major drawbacks. In addition, they also expressed insecurity (38.9 per cent), fear and anxiety (18.9 per cent) and concerns regarding the health of their children (26.2 per cent) as other problems experienced by them.
The estimated number of Out-migrants (OMI) in Tamil Nadu is 1.02 million and that of Return Out-Migrants (ROM) is 0.91 million. The total number of interstate out-migrants (ISM) is 1.93 million and this is less than that of the total Non-resident Tamils. At the state level there are 51 OMI and 45 ROM for every 1000 households. Therefore there are 96 ISM for every 1000 HH or 1 ISM for every 10th household of Tamil Nadu. Among the districts, Tirunelveli (158,964), Krishnagiri (114,665) and Tiruppur (83,654) are the ones that haveemerged as the most out-migrating districts according to the TMS 2015. Similarly, the highest return out migration was estimated for Salem district (109,857), followed by Madurai district (93,940) and Tirunelveli district (66,543). Among the taluks, Chennai emerges in the prime position in both OMI and ROM with 73,107 and 58,936. Next to Chennai, Tiruppur taluk ranks first with 57,428 migrants, followed by four Taluks – Radhapuram (49,900), Tenkasi (44,429), Alangulam (31,976), Ambasamudram (26,503), all belonging to Tirunelveli district, occupying the first ten most migrating taluks in the state.Among ROM, Madurai south emerges as the leader with 54,292 return migrants, followed by Tenkasi (39,223), Salem (38,322) respectively.
Karnataka is the state which receives the most number of out-migrants from Tamil Nadu. It has 43.1 per cent of total out-migrants as of now and receives 38.8 per cent of the total return outmigrants. This difference in the share of the Out-migrants from Karnataka shows that the state has always been the favourite place of settlement of Tamil out-migrants. The destination which has the second most number of OMI (17.8 per cent) and ROM (22.8 per cent) is Kerala. Andhra Pradesh with 8.1 per cent of the total OMI and 12.2 per cent of total ROM occupies the third position. All these three states, Karnataka, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh are the immediate neighbouring states of Tamil Nadu. Other attractive settlement for Tamil Nadu out-migrants is Maharashtra which is the only non-neighbour of Tamil Nadu that receives a share of over 5 per cent of both OMI and ROM.
The total remittances to Tamil Nadu in 2015 was estimated to be Rs.61843 crores according to the TMS 2015. This is close to Kerala’s remittances accounting to Rs.68000 crores. A total remittance of Rs. 61,843 crores indicates an average per capita remittance of Rs.8500 to the total population of 75 million in Tamil Nadu. For Kerala, the per capita remittance was of Rs.21,000 in 2014. According to our estimates, the remittances to Tamil Nadu are equivalent to 14 per cent of the state’s domestic product. The per capita income of the state was Rs.66,635, without taking remittances into account, but would be Rs. 75,214 if remittances are taken into account. Remittances were 6.8 times the money that the state received from the central government as revenue transfer and 1.8 times the entire government expenditure.
In other words 85 per cent of the households received remittances for their day-to-day needs. Another major share was used for the education of the children. About 31 per cent of the households deposited the remittances into banks as savings. About 7 per cent of the households in Tamil Nadu used money for purchasing or building a house while 19 per cent of the households in Kerala used their remittances for the same purpose.
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