Worker enrolment in Kerala’s welfare boards declines as job stability drops

Alappuzha: The number of workers registering with various labour welfare boards in Kerala for benefits and pensions is on the decline. Although the total number of welfare boards has been reduced from 16 to 11, the drop in worker enrolment is remarkably impacting their operations.

The welfare boards rely on contributions from registered workers as a primary source of income, which is then used to provide employee salaries and benefits. The reduction in registered workers is directly affecting this revenue stream.

For instance, in the Agricultural Workers' Welfare Board, the number of registered workers rose from 14,762 in 2022 to 26,236 in 2023. However, it drastically dropped to 9,077 the following year. A similar trend is observed in the Construction Workers' Welfare Board, where registrations fell from 32,313 in 2022 to just 3,445 in 2024.

The Beedi and Cigar Workers' Welfare Board saw zero new registrations in 2024. A decline in registrations was also reported in traditional sectors such as handloom, cashew and jewellery manufacturing. These figures were revealed in recent data from the Labour Department.

However, there has been a rise in the number of registrations in boards for small-scale traders, motor workers and headload workers.

Job insecurity seen as a major reason

Board chairpersons and officials point to shifts in employment trends as the main reason behind declining registrations. Many workers have realised that depending solely on agriculture is no longer viable, prompting them to seek alternative livelihoods.

The same pattern is evident in sectors like cashew and handloom. In the beedi sector, the major drop in the number of beedi rollers has resulted in no new registrations. Another contributing factor is the removal of workers who were found to be enrolled in more than one welfare board.