Is Tamil Nadu’s Knitwear & Textile Industry Safe Haven For Illegal Bangladesh Migrants?

Tamil Nadu leads in current headlines. Yes, F4 is what you are thinking. The first family has come a long way from the modest roots of Thiruvarur. Today Stalin Jr is conducting a car race event…you’ve come a long way, baby. But intel reports are pointing out that Bangladesh illegals too have come a long way to escape strife ridden country, seek jobs and livelihood and perhaps turn TN into a state like Kashmir? The Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma has warned TN authorities about this increasing penetration by illegals with fake IDs like Aadhaar cards and others. The Dibrugarh to Trivandrum train via Coimbatore brings job seekers and migrant workers, and it is easy to “vanish” in the crowded industrial and knitwear centres of the hinterland. A labour hungry knitwear industry gobbles up labour. According to KM Subramanian, Tiruppur Exporters Association, “TN textile industry is one of the largest…so illegals head job prospecting head straight to Tiruppur and Karur with fake documents”. About 8 lakh people are employed in the knitwear sector, with 2.5 lakhs from North India. Even 20,000 workers can be absorbed at any given time. The penny dropped with frequent visits of chief Ajit Doval to TN. His latest meeting with Governor RN Ravi has catapulted this security issue to high levels. Is this frequent visit by Doval, a signal that Governor Ravi may get an extension?