TA: Kajal DiwakarHousing Migrant Construction Workers
The Indian construction sector employs around 4 Crore circular migrant workers every year. This includes ‘floating’ workers, who migrate in groups from villages through labour recruiters, and migrant naka workers who migrate to the city on their own in search of work. Due to the temporal nature of their work and stay in the city, a large number of these workers remain invisible in planning processes, and are unable to access formal housing provisions. Their dependence on informal housing mechanisms further increases the complexity of providing housing solutions that can overcome current inadequacies of basic shelter, services and tenure security. This studio explores housing as a dynamic process that is interdependent on employment opportunities and social infrastructure, apart from being governed by construction costs and policy guidelines. Using stakeholder and user engagement, the studio aims to address the following questions - Is housing only about building houses? What is the notion of house or ‘home’ for migrant workers, and hence, what is the nature of housing provision that can help uplift their present condition? It is underpinned by a critical ethos of empathy, recognizing one’s biases, respecting people’s circumstances and keeping their needs and aspirations at the centre.
