Realest Industry to attract migrant laborers back

Every challenge in business has a different set of reactions from different industry stakeholders; and while migrant labour is definitely needed at construction sites across urban India and the Metro cities, the news about someone offering air tickets to woo labour from Bihar to return to construction sites in Hyderabad, to my mind, is not something that real estate as an industry would opt for – but yes, how labour is treated and remunerated for the work they do, these aspects will change for the better.

The COVID-19 pandemic has created a ‘new normal’ and we are in the process of changing various paradigms, the one important change will be how labour gets treated in the post-COVID world. From being one of the requirements for construction, the importance of labour has increased, especially given the reverse migration which took place. Local labour is still easily available; and real estate companies which took care of migrant labour on its on-going sites will definitely have an easier task wooing them back; but overall, I would say we, the urban Indians, failed our fellow Indians, the migrant labour, in their hour of need.

Having said this, the next question is whether they would want to return. Experience over the years suggests yes, but this time around, there will be a change – for the better. Real estate companies across India will undertake this change, it will begin with treating them as individual human beings and not just a means to get construction work done. Secondly, accommodation at site as also the facilities including food, hygiene and sanitation will get ‘upgraded’; as will the remuneration. Third and most important, construction site migrant labour will now get the same set of norms and safety measures as, say, office staff, effectively doing away with the difference between ‘blue collar’ and ‘white collar’ where safety and working conditions are concerned. They will return, but to a changed scenario of safer and better working conditions as also being treated with respect not just as a part of the production process, but as fellow human beings.