Last week, 43 inter-state migrant labourers from Chhattisgrah donated Rs 56,000 to the Chief Minister's Disaster Relief Fund (CMDRF) to fight COVID-19.
It was their token of gratitude to Kerala, God's own country for them, that provided them with enough jobs, stable income and decent living environment.
All of them are coconut pluckers in Thiruvananthapuram.
“This land saved our families from poverty. This is our place. We do not feel like outsiders. This is our turn to give back to the state,” says Ranjeet Singh Paikra, one of the labourers.
Ranjeet first saw a coconut after he came to Kerala.
At his village in Bilaspur district, he worked in paddy, maize, wheat or groundnut fields, but he could not earn enough money to take care of his family comprising parents and two brothers.
His search for greener pastures ended with Kerala, the land of coconut trees, which gave him a new career choice. He learned coconut plucking and perfected his skills. Ranjeet is now taking good care of his family and he is building a home for them in his village.
Chandrapal, 34, too had come from Ranjeet’s village to Kerala some time back to become a coconut plucker.
The number of coconut pluckers grew with the arrival of their friends and relatives to Thiruvananthapuram.
For them, the initial days were difficult. They’d feel dizzy while looking down from the top of the coconut tree, but slowly, they picked up the skill. With handsome earning, Chandrapal is glad to have saved some money. He says, “My parents, wife, two kids and brother are living happily at my village. I have even invested in a fixed deposit for them.”
The story contribution
Explaining how the donation happened, Mohandas P, who runs Computech, an agency that employs these guest workers, in Ayiroopara in the capital city, says, “I am an ex-serviceman and decided to donate my pension money of Rs 26,000 to the CMDRF. When I told them about it, they too offered to donate and they raised Rs 56,000. They are so happy to give it back to the land which gifted them and their family happiness in abundance. They bought land, vehicles, built homes and married off their sisters.”
They handed the money to Minister of Cooperation, Tourism and Devaswom Kadakampally Surendran last week.
Recalling how he trained guest workers who had arrived in Kerala in search of livelihood, Mohandas says, “Only one among the first 300 persons could manage to go up the coconut tree with the help of the climbing machine. And then two more joined. Seeing the prospects of the job and the regular income it provided, the men in the team brought friends and relatives from their village, and now all the workers hail from the same village in Chhattisgarh.”
For each tree they climb, the customer pays Rs 40; from that Rs 15 goes towards the company and the rest, to the labourer. “Some even give them tips. Hardworking coconut pluckers earn up to Rs 40,000 a month,” says Mohandas, who has been running the firm for seven years now. He is part of the family of his employees. He visits Bilaspur at times to attend a wedding in their families or during festive occasions.
The lockdown, however, has not affected the workers. “We had enough food in stock and everyone was enquiring about our health status and needs,” says Ranjeet, who is waiting for the lockdown to end, to go home and check on everyone.