Nobody talking about missing migrant workers of Wayanad's Meppadi

MEPPADI: District Labor Officer G Jayesh zeroed in on the number 155, while talking about the migrant labourers residing in wards 10, 11 and 12 of Meppadi panchayat and said four among them have gone missing since the landslide disaster. And now, locals have busted these factoids.

The labour officer's number comes from Athidi portal where many migrant workers register. The officer himself is wary of the fact that this number may fluctuate. Mundakkai, Chooralmala and Attamala have many tea plantations with hundreds of migrant workers. The plantations belong to Harrison and Vanarani Plantations. The managers of this establishment must provide the details of migrant workers in the labour offices.

Locals presage a large number of migrant workers might have gone missing in the landslide with nobody noticing. The revenue department is accurately collecting the accounts of the disaster victims but the details of migrant workers in Meppadi are in tatters with no veracity about the real numbers. There are copious migrant workers in Wayanad with no official document or address, who all are ready to do any menial jobs to make ends meet.