Internally, inter- and intra-state migrant labour could add up to 37% of the Indian population. A more conservative figure: They are 20% of the workforce (Economic Survey 2016). Last year, Azim Premji Institute estimated 29% of any Indian city’s force are daily-wagers, earning as low as Rs 2,000 a month or a max of Rs 20,000. Most live in 10x10 feet houses, four-six people crammed into each such unit, with basic civic amenities either absent or stolen or improvised. Can you, in India, think of any place that offers decent living quarters with regular amenities to migrant labour—those who build our expressways, our malls, our Koramangalas and Cyber Hubs? The thought hasn’t even occurred to you.
Santwana Bhattacharya, 'Between the Taj Mahal and the worker’s hovel', New Indian Express