Do we have a model to follow?

Not exactly. People and society must begin to view migration from a new perspective. We must recognise oversights, if we want to improve. In many households, the elderly live alone because their children have migrated. In Kerala, funerals traditionally used to take place on the same day of death. Now, with children abroad, we often wait for them and the deceased remains in a mobile mortuary. Ironically, the person who passed away isn’t a migrant, but they’re in the mortuary because someone else is. The social costs of migration have become an important issue. Earlier, these weren’t discussed much as focus was on remittances. Understanding this shift is essential.

What about internal migration in Kerala? There’s a trend of people who had earlier moved to the high ranges returning to the midlands. Similarly, people are migrating from coastal areas to the midlands…

This shift is largely driven by the impact of climate change, especially along the coastal belt. We’re studying the effects of landslides and floods, which have become more frequent and severe. One clear sign is in the real estate market. Waterfront properties, which once commanded very high prices, have seen a sharp decline in value. Land is going to be a critical issue in the coming years.

We discussed how migration affects election results. How do you view the Special Intensive Revision?

There should be a definition for ‘illegal’. In migration, there’s no illegal migrant, but undocumented migrant. You don’t have proper papers. No one’s illegal in this world.

Isn’t that part of migration governance?

Bangladeshi migration is a national security issue because it is demographic. That’s what the Prime Minister said in a speech. One of the missions is controlling the migrants. But for that, some areas or localities are required. But language is a problem. You can’t brand people who speak Bengali as undocumented. We have West Bengal here. What if you brand Tamil-speaking people as refugees from Sri Lanka? Language is what connects them. Bangladesh and West Bengal are connected by language. We may need to tighten borders though.

How effective is the Loka Kerala Sabha organised by the state government to maintain a connection with the Malayali diaspora?

It is a novel and innovative idea to connect Malayalis settled in other countries. It is akin to Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas. Many states are now thinking about replicating the Loka Kerala Sabha.

You spoke about gender dividends. What percentage of Kerala population is unproductive as of now?

As much as 20% of Malayalis are now 60-plus, but we don’t know much about them. When one is 60-plus now, one’s skills are different from one’s father when he was at the same age. Around 80% of 40-plus people are graduates. The literacy rate of 60-plus in Kerala is 100%. So we can plan a silver economy. I believe they can be utilised.

TNIE team: Kiran Prakash, Cithara Paul, Anil S, K S Sreejith, M S Vidyanandan, Unnikrishnan S, B P Deepu (photos), Pranav V P (video)