Social Conditions of Migrant Construction WorkersNon-governmental organization Jan Sahas recently gauged the situation facing migrant construction workers in North and Central India in a recent telephone survey, the Indian Express reported. The Express points out that "The construction sector contributes to around 9 per cent of the country's GDP and employs the highest number of migrant workers across India with 55 million daily-wagers. Each year, an estimated nine million workers move from rural areas to urban cities in search of work within construction sites and factories."[1] Informing of the results of the Jan Sahas survey, the Express writes that firstly, "42 per cent of the workers mentioned that they had no ration left even for the day, let alone for the duration of the lockdown." The report by the Express continues: "Second, one-third of the respondents said they 'are still stuck in destination cities due to the lockdown with little or no access to food, water and money.' While nearly half the migrant labourers were already in their villages, they face different challenges such as no income and accessibility to rations. "Third, that '31 per cent of workers' admitted to 'have loans and they will find it difficult to repay it without employment.' The highest proportions of the loans were from money-lenders, nearly three times more than who have taken loans from banks. While more than 79 per cent of those who have loans fear not being able to pay them back in the near future, 'a disturbing fact is that close to 50 per cent of the labourers who had taken debt fear that their inability to pay can put them in danger of some kind of violence.'" Regarding access to relief funds, "The survey finds that '94 per cent of the workers do not have the Building and Construction Workers identity card, which rules out the possibility of availing any of the benefits that the State has declared from its Rs 32,000 crore [Building and Construction Workers Welfare Fund].' "According to the survey, the immediate relief that migrant workers wanted was rations, then a promise of monthly support. About 83 per cent of them worried that they would not be able to find work at the end of the shutdown, while 80 per cent were concerned that the impact of 21 days lockdown on their family will be to leave them without any food. "The survey also found that 55 per cent of the
workers earned between Rs 200-400 per day to
support an average family size of four persons,
while another 39 per cent earned between Rs
400-600 per day. This means that a majority of
these labourers are underpaid as the minimum wages
act, where the prescribed minimum wages for Delhi
are Rs 692, Rs 629 and Rs 571 for skilled,
semi-skilled and unskilled workers, respectively." Note
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