Making home-based work environments safer, healthier and productive: Incorporating needs of home-based workers in city plans and policies (1)

This brief is a part of WIEGO's documentation of Mahila Housing SEWA Trust’s (MHT) work to capture insights on their work that has had wide ranging impacts on the wellbeing and economic productivity of home-based workers. This brief on government-led slum redevelopment and public housing projects is the first thematic brief in the ‘Incorporating the needs of the home-based workers in city plans and policies’ category.

While there has been an increase in efforts to provide public housing and legal infrastructure services in India, public housing often does not cater to the true needs of the poor. The unit sizes are often small, with inefficient building layout, construction materials, and service systems making it uncomfortable for home-based workers to work. Moreover, public housing is usually constructed on public lands which are located outside the cities, disconnecting home-based workers from central city services. MHT connects low-income communities with available housing schemes and advocates for process and policy reforms in slum redevelopment to safeguard the interests of the slum dwellers.