Ethnography of construction industry workers in the time of COVID- 19 at Chandigarh Tricity

Abstract

This thesis deliberates to reveal the incongruencies in the state’s discourse of ”welfare and social security” in the lives of the ”informal workers” in the construction industry during the COVID-19 pandemic. The narratives of the struggles, negotiations, and responses of these workers in the Chandigarh region highlight a plethora of issues plaguing their regular lives. On one hand, a pervasive lack of awareness of the schemes of ”Punjab Board for Construction Workers” for the migrant workers mean that even an industry veteran can seldom access the welfare board’s benefits. We also see a more systemic problem in this demographic arising out of traditional gender-role based gating of professions.