Anant Centre for Sustainability at Anant National University, Ahmedabad and the Terwilliger Centre for Innovation in Shelter at Habitat for Humanity collaborated to study the housing challenges of migrant construction workers who make up 41.6% of short-term and 5.3% of long-term migrants of rural origin across India.
Researchers Sharadbala Joshi, Dhaval Monani, Asima Sahu and Anurita Bhatnagar focused on western India, specifically Maharashtra, a state that attracts the maximum number of inter-state migrants.
The research focussed on the journey of the migrant construction workers from the villages to the cities to understand certain key parameters like the kind of accommodation they looked for in the cities, with whom did they share it, the reasons that prompted them to return to the villages during the COVID-19 lockdown, in what ways has life changed for them since their return to the city post-pandemic, and what kind of housing solutions would work best for them.
This involved a survey in 3 rural districts across the states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Odisha where construction labour migrate from, and surveys in the cities of Mumbai-Navi-Mumbai-Panvel-Vasai (MNM-PV) and in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad (Pune-PCMC) where construction labour work in.
74% of the labourers lived in or rented formal houses that the contractors identified. 37% lived in large rooms that they shared with 5 persons. Some, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, preferred to work in the village itself or in nearby urban areas where they may earn a little less but from where they can return home more easily.
The research found that a significant 85% of respondents from MNM-PV are interstate migrants and 79.5% of migrants in Pune-PCMC are from within Maharashtra. 29% and 95% of respondents found their houses independently in MNM-PV and Pune-PCMC, respectively.
Despite the push for pucca houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Urban, 37.3% of respondents in Mumbai live in kuccha accommodation and the same is at 80% in Pune-PCMC. The study, while identifying the day-to-day challenges faced in their settlements, deduced the fact that 36% of respondents in MNM-PV pointed to poor conditions of toilets and washing facilities and limited timing and quantity of water supply. A staggering 31% of respondents in MNM-PV said that one of the main reasons for them to return to their respective villages in March 2020, was finding "No opportunities to earn income" in the city.
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