Bigger India
As crucial cash from the Gulf dries up, south Indian families fret
An economic slowdown in the Gulf, fluctuating oil prices and changes to labor policies mean fewer migrants are flying out of the district’s Calicut airport than before - and many are returning.
Every evening, three generations of worried Angatt family women meet outside a half-built bungalow in this village in India’s southern Kerala state.
Nearly six months after the house’s foundation was laid and its two floors raised, construction has slowed to a near halt. The reason is never discussed out loud – only whispered cautiously.
“My husband said there are problems in the Gulf. Everything is suddenly more expensive and he is not able to save as much,” murmured Faseela Angatt, 29, who is overseeing the building while her husband works in the finance department of a Dubai firm.