This restaurant on Silk Street in Kozhikode is closed due to LPG shortage crisis and absence of migrant workers. | Photo credit: K. Ragesh
A large number of migrant workers from Assam and West Bengal have gone to their home states to exercise their right to vote in the assembly elections amid concerns over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, which has plunged Kerala’s hotel, hospitality and real estate sector into crisis.
It is a double whammy of sorts for the hotel and hospitality sector in districts like Thiruvananthapuram, Alappuzha, Ernakulam, Kozhikode and Palakkad, which were already hit by a shortage of LPG cylinders after the US-Israel-Iran war. G. Jayapal, state president of the Kerala Hotel and Restaurant Association (KHRA), says that while some restaurants open late, others close early. Many have stopped offering afternoon meals. “We are incurring huge financial losses as we are already forced to buy LPG cylinders from private distributors at a higher price. With this income, it is still difficult to pay rent and manage staff salaries,” he says. Assembly elections in West Bengal are scheduled for April 23 and April 29. They were held in Assam on April 9. Almost 70% of employees in hotels and restaurants are engaged in cleaning work and migrant service workers in Kozhide. cooks. Employees at a major restaurant chain known for its non-vegetarian spread say they have cut working hours and reorganized workers’ shifts. Hotels that used to be open 24 hours a day were forced to close early. While natives from Assam are returning, those from West Bengal may return only after this month.
Published – 22 Apr 2026 23:13 IST
