Migration Remittances and Employment: Short-term Trends and Long-term Implications

This Working Paper gives the results of the 2007 round of the Migration Monitoring Studies (MMS) being conducted periodically by the Centre for Development Studies. It covers three areas: migration, remittances and employment. Their short-term trends and long-term development implications are the main concern of the paper. Contrary to expectation, the international migration situation in Kerala has remained absolutely stationary during 2003-07. The number of emigrants, return emigrants, non-resident Keralites and the proportion of Kerala households with a non-resident Keralite each in 2007 were the same as they had been in 2003. Mobility in Kerala has become, so to say, immobile. The era of large-scale emigration from the state seems to be largely over. However, internal migration was not very static. It has started declining. Today more persons are coming to the state than are going out. The first half of the 21st century could be like the first half of the 20th century when Kerala had been a net in-migrating state