How The Model Tenancy Act Aims To Solve The Paradox Of Shortage Of Houses Despite Large Stock Of Vacant Houses swarajyamag.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from swarajyamag.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
A man in Mumbai s Dharavi neighbourhood. | Francis Mascarenhas/Reuters
As the spread of Covid-19 and the ensuing nation-wide lockdown brought economic activities to a halt earlier this year, India saw the lives of millions of migrant workers unravel. Job losses, mounting debts and the lack of secure living arrangements led to reverse migration of this hitherto invisible workforce from cities to their home states.
Indeed, migrants face a unique inability to access government-led social schemes (like subsidised housing) in their cities of work as their identity and domicile documents are often tagged to their native addresses. They may avail such benefits there but rely entirely on renting affordable homes in the cities, obtained through informal markets, often in sub-standard living conditions.