The Indian construction industry is the second largest employer in the country after agriculture, in addition to the direct and indirect jobs it creates. Low skilled workers are relied on in large numbers in this sector and often accompanied with exploitation, income insecurity, violation of rights and absence of legal protection, despite the growth of the sector itself. In 2020, Covid-19 and its ensuing consequences laid bare the vulnerability of construction workers as well as other informal sector workers. This is despite the fact that Government, Private sector and several civil society organisations have taken measures to improve the working and living conditions of informal workers. However, a glaring absence is the lack of a unified repository at the national level that can provide a perspective on the state of construction workers in India.

As INHAF, it is an attempt to understand poverty through the unorganised sector in the following ways:

a) Detailed study of living and working conditions of construction workers in the country.

b) Status of women construction workers in skilled jobs such as carpentry, masonry, plumbing and so on.

c) Action component, as determined by the earlier two status reports.