The Census and Migrant Workers  January 23rd 2026

SECTOR REVIEW 2025—Construction Workers

It was an ironic year. Construction workers suffered a loss of livelihood on account of pollution-related suspension of construction, they were also denied welfare payments mandated by legal entitlements, and collected by state governments in their name. On the other hand industry was vocal this year about the severe shortage of workers, flagging a shortage of 2 million skilled construction workers in 2025–26.

The year began and ended with the imposition of successive Graded Response Action Plans in response to high pollution levels in a swathe of cities in North India. The measures aim to control emissions through stricter restrictions on construction, vehicular movement, and industrial operations. This called for the suspension of construction activity rendering many migrant workers jobless and necessitating compensatory payouts by the State. After its order of December 2024, on this issue the Supreme Court passed orders again in both March and November urging state governments to compensate workers for the loss of livelihoods. The SC said workers should be compensated even if there was no court order. The states of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi submitted to the court numbers of workers to whom compensation was paid, the Delhi government was pulled up for not paying the full compensation allowance.

The Hindu reported in the course of the year that despite legal frameworks such as the Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) (BOCW) Act, 1996, construction labour had little access to social security measures and accessing welfare entitlements remained a challenge. It estimated that 5.65 crore construction workers are registered with State construction boards, which have collected around ₹70,000 crore cesses from builders, to be used for the welfare of these workers. But the amount remained largely unutilised.

The Karnataka High Court set aside a notification issued by the State Government in 2023, reducing the education assistance amount for children of registered construction workers for pursuing graduation and post-graduation courses.

In August 2025 the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) had raised serious concerns over the underutilisation of welfare funds and weak implementation of worker-related schemes in Delhi. According to the performance audit tabled in the Delhi Assembly, the national capital renewed only 7.3% of construction worker registrations between 2019 and 2023, significantly lower than the national average of 74%.

The challenges faced by construction workers are inadequate wages and unstable employment, unsafe working conditions, lack of social security and benefits, exploitative practices and discrimination, and the lack of skill development opportunities.

Workers lost their lives in the course of the year in accidents. In March eight people trapped working on the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel project work in Telangana were confirmed dead six days after a portion of the tunnel came crashing down. Two workers fell to their death at a construction site in Nashik, after they fell through the safety net that had been installed. In September nine migrant workers from Assam died after falling at a construction site in Minjur, Thiruvallur district, Tamil Nadu, while working on the North Chennai Thermal Power Station extension.

A report published in the course of the year also described dangers to the children of migrant construction workers. It described regular reports of young children being killed or injured in accidents while living in makeshift houses on construction sites where their parents work long hours as labourers. It said construction companies, schools and NGOs are increasingly working together to provide on-site childcare centres and schools so children can both be kept safe from the dangers and receive an education. Children of brick kiln workers who are peripherally a part of the construction industry are also perennially vulnerable, growing up without education, nutrition or healthcare, trapped in generational poverty and invisible labour. (Photo: NDTV)