By IANS,
Thiruvananthapuram : Kerala Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan Friday asked the central government to help the large number of the state’s diaspora who have lost their jobs in the Middle East.
“All these years it was these people who had sent precious foreign currency into the country and the entire benefit of that was taken by the centre… now when these people are in trouble, it is the responsibility of the centre to help them,” said Achuthanandan, addressing the MPs from the state ahead of the forthcoming parliament session.
He said law makers from the state should raise this issue with utmost seriousness in the coming session of parliament.
Kerala today has more than two million of its people settled abroad with close to 90 percent in the various Middle East countries.
Over the years, the remittances made by them have kept the state economy afloat.
Last fiscal Kerala received Rs.24,525 crore (Rs.245.25 billion/$5.049 billion) as remittances, which is about 20 per cent of the state’s net state domestic product and 30 percent more than the state’s annual receipts.