Modi's 'Housing for All' means nothing for India's 100 mn migrant workers

India's urban housing crisis will only aggravate further if the government fails to listen to the needs of this large cross-section of urban populations

The Union Budget 2018, announced on February 1, has committed to provide assistance for building 3.7 million houses in urban areas in 2018-19 under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY). However, this does little to resolve India’s urban housing crisis, whi'ch affects the poorest and most marginalised populations in cities.

“I have never seen Ahmedabad city outside the factory. My body and mind always revolves around these machines,” said Gangaram, a migrant worker who hails from Barmer district in Rajasthan. He works in a garments processing unit in Ahmedabad, where 20 workers live inside their workplace. They sleep, cook, bathe and