Kochi/New Delhi: The coronavirus pandemic has forced 8.7 lakh Keralites, mostly from the Gulf nations, to return home since last May.
A majority of the returnees, around 5.67 lakh of them, cited job loss as the cause for the return, official data showed.
Data released by the state’s Non-Resident Keralites Affairs (NORKA) department showed 1,11,151 of a total 13,27,330 Keralites who returned from other parts of India also cited job loss as the cause for return.
Expiry of job visas was the second biggest reason cited by the returnees (2.08 lakh). Senior citizens, children, and family members of expats formed the rest.
NORKA said that since May, when travel was opened up partially following the easing of the covid-19 lockdown, a total of 8,69,730 people returned from abroad.
Of those returning from within India, most returned from neighbouring Tamil Nadu (3.12 lakh), followed by Karnataka (3.11 lakh) and Maharashtra (1.37 lakh).
Of those coming from abroad, 8,62,544 flew while 7,186 took the sea route.
As per NORKA records, there are 40 lakh Keralites living or working abroad and 13.73 lakh within India. Kerala has a resident population of 3.48 crore.
Ernakulam reported the maximum number of returnees overall at 2,48,113, followed by Thiruvananthapuram (1,66,806), and Malappuram (1,43,709). Kasaragod had the least at 32,959 after Wayanad with 34,838 returnees.
But among those returning from overseas, Malappuram had the highest number at 1,40,931 followed by Kozhikode at 89,166 and Thrissur at 86,887. Idukki had the lowest at 7,370.
Most returnees (3.15 lakh) arrived at the airport in Kochi followed by Kozhikode (2.58 lakh), Thiruvananthapuram (1.76 lakh) and Kannur (1.09 lakh). The Cochin port was used by 2,955 returnees.
Among states, Kerala had the highest NRI deposits at ₹93,000 crore in 2019 and the government was expecting it to cross ₹1 trillion last year, though it has not materialized due to the pandemic.
Most Keralites take advantage of record low interest rates in the country of work by borrowing cheap in local currency and remitting the money home.
Photo courtesy: Binu jayakrishnan/Wikimedia Commons