ABSTRACT
The public focus on “migrant labour” emerged almost as soon as the COVID-19 lockdown was announced on March 24, 2020. The scale of job losses at the all-India level and indeed in urban India from where these persons have been moving out is difficult to ascertain, as there are not many current surveys. The headcount of the poor or the self-employed and casual workers is an obvious upper limit. Some evidence that is emerging now suggests that very large sections of the working population have indeed lost jobs. In any event, it is safe to assume that a considerable minority of casual labour in urban areas does not live either in premises that have properly written rent leases with emergency clauses, or in owned premises. Moreover, these casual workers who have such adverse accommodation arrangements are likely to be the poorest and must be amongst those who lost their jobs after the lockdown was imposed.
