Lockdown Pains & Mass Exodus: Rental Housing in Megacities of the Indian

Research Team: Dr Sohail Ahmad (PI), Dr Adriana Mihaela Soaita (Co-I), Prof Tanjil Sowgat (Co-I, University of Khulna), Dr Sami Ullah (Co-I, University of Gujarat), Mr Faisal Munir (Co-I, University of Gujarat), Mahendra Sethi (Co-I, Indian Society for Applied Research & Development (ISARD)), Shilpi Mittal (Co-I, ISARD)

Sponsor: Scottish Funding Council – GCRF Small Grant

Covid-19 has exposed major structural, social and governance fault lines of developing countries. One of the most heart-wrenching images of the Indian lockdown would perhaps remain the inhuman habitation of migrant labour in financial capitals, followed by their mass exodus to their home villages, walking for hundreds of miles. As governments announce their economic and rental housing packages, we investigate stakeholder needs, market & policy landscape for sustainable rental housing of migrant labour in megacities of the Indian subcontinent.

• Research Project