The body of Anmol Dodrai, a 25-year-old man from Jharkhand’s Khunti district, who was killed in the Wayanad landslide in Kerala a day ago, was brought to Ranchi on Wednesday, an official said.
Khunti Labour Superintendent Walter Kujur told PTI that they were making arrangements for bringing the body of the deceased, who hailed from a poor family, from Ranchi to his ancestral village.
Walter Hembrom, a neighbour and a relative of the deceased youth, said Dodrai was the sole breadwinner of the family. “Dodrai was the eldest son of his parents. He has two sisters (one married) and a younger brother, who is studying in school,” Hembrom said.
The family members looked crestfallen and remained uncertain about their future after Dodrai’s death, the relative said.
Dodrai was among the three people killed in the landslide at a tunnel road construction site in the hill district of the southern state. The two others – Chandraban and Bikash Kumar, hailed from Madhya Pradesh and Bihar.
Nine injured persons were admitted to Meppadi WIMS Hospital, of whom two have been discharged. Seven others continue to undergo treatment. Other than one site engineer from Ernakulam, everyone else is from outside the state.
In recent decades, Kerala has emerged as one of the highest migrant worker populated states in India, owing to its allure of higher wage rate in the informal labour market for unorganised sector workers than any other state in India. The migrant workers, often respectfully referred to as “guest workers”, form an indispensable part of the state’s economy, with most of them work in unorganised informal sectors such as construction, manufacturing, agriculture, and marine fishing.
Although precise tracking is difficult since migration is fluid and many workers travel back and forth, a 2021 study on Immigration, Informal Employment and Urbanisation in Kerala, has estimated that close to 31 lakh interstate migrant labourers are working in the state. In 2026, the numbers are likely to be much higher.
The welfare measures announced by the subsequent state governments to include migrant workers in their social security schemes have contributed largely to the influx of the workers.