over half of keralas saudi expatriates hail from malappuram which has been transformed from dusty village to urban hub by overseas money in the last decade today funds run dry as residents are forced to return to indiaaskar ponnadan 34 now works in stationery store near calicut international airport malappuram district but will not be buying any school supplies for his daughter a lower kg student having quit his supermarket job in riyadh last month to return to india ponnadan can no longer afford his daughters school fees i could earn at least rs 20000 a month in riyadh says ponnadan who was there for four years now i make only rs 7000 a month so we are forced to cut our daily expenses ponnadan has also postponed his sisters wedding we are hopeful that the government will announce a rehabilitation package soon he says ponnadan is among the over one lakh indians returning from saudi arabia following the enforcement of the naturalization or nitaqat law the saudi government has made it mandatory for companies to hire a minimum number of locals over foreigners and have begun identifying and sending back illegal workers according to the indian embassy in riyadh as of may 25 75000 indians have registered to return to india of which 3610 are from kerala the figure is lower than say the 21000 from uttar pradesh but the number is expected to increase as the july 3 deadline to return set by the saudi government approaches with over seven lakh malayalis working in saudi arabia there is a growing concern among relatives back home about what the future holds its especially palpable in malappuram district which over 35 lakh malayalis working in saudi today call home almost half the total number of emigrants from kerala the gulf boom of the 70s and 80s which saw the mass migration of unskilled labourers from kerala to countries including saudi arabia uae oman bahrain qatar and kuwait has changed the lives of these residents who as small traders and farmers had struggled to make ends meet sending money back home these expatriates have transformed rural districts like malappuram over the last two decades two and threestorey terraced houses now line the districts roads and the steady sale of construction material is evidence of the areas growing prosperity farming has been almost entirely replaced by other livelihoods like real estate while weddings are now more luxurious affairs on the education front malappuram is ahead of other kerala districts primarily because of its financial muscle international schools with sevenstar facilities cater exclusively to children of nri families with expatriate parents encouraging the next generation to pursue degrees in engineering and medicine according to the latest district urbanization report malappuram has gone from 982 per cent urbanization to 4419 per cent in the last decade all this was possible only because of money from gulf jobs ten years ago there were only narrow roads and no colleges near my village now the