TO grow up in Vengara, a quiet geography in the Malappuram district of Kerala, is to witness the paradoxical nature of global capitalism from the front row. I do not write this from the perspective of an expatriate family; my own lineage remained rooted in the soil of Malabar. Yet, as an observer born into this historic cradle of Gulf migration, I have watched my village transform. I have seen the thatched roofs give way to concrete mansions, a transformation fueled not by domestic industry, but by the invisible labour of men toiling in the arid landscapes of the Middle East. However, alongside this material prosperity, I have also witnessed a profound silence—the social anxiety of families separated by oceans and the political invisibility of a workforce that sustains the state’s economy but remains marginalised in the national discourse.

In Vengara, migration is the atmosphere we breathe. But for decades, the Indian state viewed these workers merely as suppliers of foreign exchange, celebrating them when reserves swelled and abandoning them when geopolitical crises struck. It is against this backdrop of historical apathy that the 5th edition of the Loka Kerala Sabha (LKS), held from January 29 to 31 in Thiruvananthapuram, assumes a revolutionary significance. It represents a structural break from the neoliberal approach to migration, positing instead a socialist model where the state acts not just as a regulator, but as a guardian.

BEYOND THE CEREMONIAL: PLANNING FROM BELOW

The conclusion of the 5th Loka Kerala Sabha marks a pivotal moment in Indian parliamentary history, primarily because of its timing and intent. Occurring precisely as the State Government prepares its 15th Five-Year Plan, the deliberations within the Shankaranarayanan Thambi Hall were not mere ceremonial exchanges. They were foundational inputs for future governance.

Under the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government, the expatriate is no longer viewed as a passive "remitter" of funds but as an active "planner" of the state’s destiny. This integration of the diaspora into the planning process reflects a participatory democracy that transcends geographical borders. While capitalist economies view migrant labor as a commodity to be exported, the Kerala model views the migrant as a citizen with equal rights to shape domestic policy, creating a continuum of governance that stretches from Thiruvananthapuram to Dubai and beyond.

THE FEDERAL CONTRADICTION: A CRITIQUE OF CENTRAL APATHY

In his concluding address, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan offered a masterclass in federal assertiveness, highlighting the stark contradiction between the State Government’s political will and the Union Government’s legislative lethargy. Migration, constitutionally, is a subject under the Union List. Yet, the legal framework governing it remains archaic, ill-suited for the complex realities of the 21st century.

The Chief Minister pointed out that while draft Emigration Bills were published in 2019 and 2021, and a new "Overseas Mobility Facilitation and Welfare Bill" appeared in 2025, none have effectively addressed the vulnerability of the working class. The prevailing central logic seems to treat migration as a business transaction to be facilitated for corporate recruiters rather than a human right to be protected. The consequences of this deregulation are visible in the statistics cited by the Chief Minister: over 1,300 cases of visa fraud and human trafficking were registered in Kerala in 2024 alone. This data is an indictment of a central system that has failed to police the predatory practices of recruitment agencies.

THE STATE AS A SHIELD: SOCIALIST INTERVENTIONS

Where the market fails, the socialist state intervenes. This was the resounding message from the LKS. The Kerala government is stepping in to fill the vacuum left by the center. The announcement of a "High Power Committee" comprising of the Chief Secretary and State Police Chief to oversee safe migration is a significant bureaucratic escalation. More revolutionary is the proposal for a "Pravasi Police Station," a dedicated mechanism where expatriates can directly register FIRs regarding fraud and exploitation. This effectively bypasses the jurisdictional excuses often used to deny justice to migrants, offering the state as a direct shield for the worker.

Furthermore, the decision to consider including returned expatriates in the NORKA Care Insurance scheme corrects a historical injustice. The capitalist labour market typically discards the workers once their utility expires; the socialist state, however, asserts that their dignity must be preserved even after their labour power is exhausted. Similarly, the inauguration of the 'Norka Student Migration Portal' addresses the burgeoning crisis of student exploitation, effectively "nationalising" the flow of information to break the monopoly of profit-driven private consultancies.

THE EASTERN PARALLEL: INSTITUTIONALISING THE DIASPORA

The structural ethos of the Loka Kerala Sabha finds its closest ideological parallel not in Western democracies, but in the socialist governance model of the People’s Republic of China. In policy circles, this resonates with the Chinese "Qiaowu" (Overseas Chinese Affairs) strategy. China views its diaspora not as abandoned subjects but as integral components of the nation's "Great Rejuvenation," institutionalising this relationship through powerful state bodies.

Kerala is operationalising a similar socialist version of globalisation. By creating a permanent platform like the LKS, the state is institutionalising the relationship between the homeland and the overseas worker. This dialectical relationship—using global resources for local development while protecting the global worker—is unique to the Kerala Model. It transforms the diaspora from a scattered, atomised population into a cohesive political block with a voice in the state’s legislative agenda.

DEMOCRATISING THE 'STERILE ZONE'

However, the most profound political statement of the Loka Kerala Sabha lies in its venue and format. As Speaker Comrade A N Shamseer observed in his concluding remarks, the very optics of the event are subversive to the bourgeois concept of power.

Legislative Assemblies across the world are designed as "Sterile Zones"—high-security fortresses accessible only to elected representatives. The sanctity of the "House" is often used to exclude the common man, maintaining a rigid hierarchy between the ruler and the ruled. Yet, for three days, the Kerala Legislative Assembly threw open its doors to the diaspora. Representatives from 125 countries and 28 Indian states were granted the rare privilege to raise their voices in the very sanctum where usually only Ministers and MLAs speak. They debated, dissented, and proposed policies in a parliamentary format.

This visual is historic. It is likely the first time in the history of global legislatures that a non-member assembly has been convened within the sovereign sanctum of law-making to deliberate on state policy. By granting the expatriate a platform to articulate their concerns within the chamber itself, equivalent to a legislator, Kerala has shattered the elitist barrier of the parliamentary system. It is an assertion that the "House of the People" truly belongs to the people, regardless of where they reside.

The 5th Loka Kerala Sabha stands as a testament to the fact that while a state government within a federal structure may be constrained by neoliberal central policies, it can still carve out spaces of resistance and care. By placing the human at the center of migration policy and democratising the legislative space, Kerala is offering a new political imagination. In a world increasingly defined by walls, border controls, and the commodification of labour, this assembly stands as a beacon, proving that the socialist vision of universal citizenship is not an abstract concept, but a practical policy of governance.

(The writer is Additional Personal Assistant to the Speaker, Kerala Legislative Assembly)