ShelterSquare Foundation, ShelterSquare Foundation Aajeevika Bureau Trust, D-328, Sumel-11 Namaste Circle, Shahibaug Ahmedabad, Ahmedabad (2026)

11/05/2026

This is Part 5 of a series on ShelterSquare’s Republic Hostel and Mess (RHM) in Sayan, Surat.

The series focuses on what adequate and value-added housing means in practice at RHM, and encourages us to reflect on the gap between workers' affordability and the costs of ensuring adequate rental housing. At ShelterSquare, we call this gap a "dignity cost."
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Affordable rental housing for migrant workers is often discussed in terms of price, but little attention is paid to the labour and costs involved in managing such housing well.

At RHM, we currently charge ₹3,990 per month for accommodation and two daily meals. However, while this is comparable in price to prevailing market rates, the actual costs of delivering this housing are higher.

A well-managed hostel and mess requires sustained daily labour from facility managers, housekeeping staff, kitchen staff (cooks & helpers) and security staff.

In the typical rental market for migrant workers, landlords spend very little on upkeep. Our tenants report that shared sanitation facilities in their previous rentals were usually cleaned once in several days. In contrast, at RHM the entire hostel is cleaned daily and sanitation facilities are cleaned twice a day. Food provision presents another contrast. Many messes catering to migrant workers pay below minimum wage to kitchen helpers and even rely on child labour.

At RHM, we ensure that our two housekeeping staff, two cooks and two helpers are paid at least minimum wage, recognising that dignified labour conditions are integral to providing dignified housing.

Management is another key difference. RHM has two facility managers. Their work includes rent collection, record-keeping, supervising daily operations, responding to tenant concerns, organising tenant meetings, coordinating health camps & recreational activities, supporting workers during medical emergencies and outreach among workers in surrounding areas. Due to limited resources, our night manager doubles up as security. Other rental properties in the area, even large ones, rarely have even a caretaker.

Overall, RHM spends around ₹1,30,000 per month on its 8-member staff. Based on our estimates, this is around double the staffing costs incurred by rental properties and mess businesses in the same area serving a similar worker capacity.

RHM is thus also creating better employment: eight stable, better-paid jobs across management, housekeeping and cooking.

This points to a structural challenge. Migrant workers, often earning minimum wages or close to it, cannot be expected to pay rents that fully cover the staffing costs required to ensure well-managed housing, particularly under dignified labour conditions.

The takeaway is simple but critical: safe, clean and supportive rental housing requires investment in people, but these costs cannot be passed on entirely to tenants. Bridging this gap will require policy support, subsidies or new financing models.

04/05/2026

This is Part 4 of a series on ShelterSquare’s Republic Hostel and Mess (RHM) in Sayan, Surat.

Through this series, we focus on what adequate and value-added housing means in practice at RHM and the everyday experiences and impacts for our tenants.
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Housing can become a powerful platform for connecting low-income migrants—who face layered vulnerabilities—to social programs, services, training and opportunities they are otherwise denied or struggle to access.

Over the past 18 months, we have begun introducing such value-adds at Republic Hostel and Mess (RHM), Sayan.

Earlier this year, we partnered with Sayan's Community Health Centre (CHC). CHCs are block-level facilities forming the secondary tier of India’s public health system, providing referral and specialist care. In February, a team of 26 CHC staff conducted a health camp at RHM for our tenants, staff and other workers from the surroundings. Over the past two years, our hostel managers have supported several tenants facing emergency health conditions, accompanying them to Surat Municipal Corporation’s SMIMER Hospital and Civil Hospital.

As most of our tenants work in Sayan’s powerloom units—where workplace injuries are common—we have organised occupational safety workshops at RHM in partnership with Aajeevika Bureau and Pravasi Shramik Suraksha Manch. We have also organised a financial literacy & inclusion session for our tenants. We provide information to our tenants on where & how to make Voter cards, Aadhar cards and PAN cards, and have also booked railway tickets for their village visits—workers save both time and money through these services.

Through relationships built with masters & managers in the powerloom sector, RHM has become an important node in the informal networks through which our tenants find work and loom units find workers. More than 90 tenants have obtained work in this way over 2025-26.

Recreational activities and celebrations, including day trips, have become a critical value-add at RHM, helping ease the mental and emotional strain of migrant workers who endure demanding work conditions alongside separation from their families. During small birthday celebrations at the hostel, some tenants have been visibly moved—quietly overwhelmed by the simple act of being remembered and celebrated, often for the first time in years away from home.

Our dining hall currently serves as a multipurpose space that hosts this wide range of activities. The RHM property has a few additional areas that we hope to develop, expanding its potential as value-added housing. In doing so, we also aim to demonstrate how even limited real estate can be leveraged to significantly enhance its use-value—transforming housing from mere shelter into a platform for well-being, opportunity, and social connection for low-income workers.

23/04/2026

This is Part 3 of a series on ShelterSquare’s Republic Hostel and Mess (RHM) in Sayan, Surat. Through this series, we focus on what adequate and value-added housing means in practice at RHM and the everyday experiences and impacts for our tenants.

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In public health, sleep is recognized as a critical pillar of health and well-being, and the concept of “sleep health” emphasizes a multidimensional understanding of sleep that includes duration, quality, timing and regularity.

Our tenants’ narratives about their health at RHM point to improved sleep—particularly in duration and quality—and show how different housing conditions shape sleep health, which in turn affects work.

67-year old Dibakar moved to RHM from a “mess hall” in June 2024. These large 500-800 sq.ft. halls—where 50-100 workers sleep in rotation across two 12-hour shifts—have little natural light or ventilation. Food is part of the rent package and is often cooked in the same space. Eight months into his stay at RHM, Dibakar said: “My health has been good. No fever or cold. I am feeling more active here. I am sleeping better because I am sharing the hall with less people. I am sleeping on a bed.”

22-year old Tapas moved to RHM from a shared rental room where the men shared chores like cooking and cleaning before and after their 12-hour shifts. After nine months at RHM, he explained: "I am feeling less sick here. Because I am eating better. There is good cleanliness here. I also feel less tired as I do not have to cook here. I sleep better because there is silence in the hall... I don't feel sleepy at work after 8 hours’ sleep here, whereas previously I used to feel sleepy."

Powerloom workers also live in worksite rooms—shared rent-free rooms on the terraces of powerloom units. Here, the high-decibel noise of the machines is relentless, day and night. 49-year old Kabiraj moved from here to RHM. Six months into his stay at RHM, he said: "I was not getting good sleep because of the noise. There, after finishing chores, cooking, I could sleep only after 10 pm. Here I can sleep earlier… When I did not get sleep at night, I would skip work and sleep during work hours. Here there is no such issue. I like it here... I do not feel sleepy [during work], instead I feel fresh."

These accounts of improved sleep—attributed to quieter surroundings, relief from chores such as cooking and cleaning, access to a personal bed, and other factors such as better thermal comfort—emerged repeatedly in tenant interviews.

In our tenant feedback surveys, 62% reported better sleep and rest at RHM than in their previous housing. Nearly 30% reported reduced illness, 47% reported feeling less tired, and 76% reported less mental tension at RHM. Better sleep was cited as a contributing factor in all three outcomes. 47% reported a positive impact on their work, with 35% responses citing good sleep as a reason.

* names changed

09/04/2026

This is Part 2 of a series on ShelterSquare’s Republic Hostel and Mess (RHM) in Sayan, Surat. Through this series, we focus on what adequate and value-added housing means in practice at RHM and the everyday experiences and impacts for our tenants.

The series also encourages us to reflect on the trade-offs that migrant workers make between housing affordability and housing adequacy, and the consequences on their lives. These trade-offs signal the gap between workers' affordability and the costs of ensuring adequate rental housing. At ShelterSquare, we call this gap a "dignity cost."
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In Part 1 of this series, we highlighted safe water, sanitation and hygiene as fundamental to adequate housing, focusing on drinking water for migrant worker communities. In this post, we focus on sanitation facilities.

Many migrant workers reside in living arrangements and localities that lack adequate sanitation. Some of the most vulnerable migrants live in precarious, unrecognized settlements that lack provision of water, toilets, drainage and garbage collection services. As per the Swachh Bharat Mission’s guidelines, household or community toilets should be provided in unrecognized slums. However, many local governments are yet to implement this on the ground. Migrant workers living in the vast informal rental housing sector have to frequently cope with shared toilets that are insufficient in number, poorly maintained and poorly lit / ventilated.

For urban India to become open defecation free, we must acknowledge these gaps and target interventions accordingly.
Furthermore, housing and sanitation programs must emphasize the Right to adequate and dignified sanitation for all.

Republic Hostel and Mess (RHM) is set up in an existing building that we retrofitted for the purpose. A large share of our retrofit costs went into constructing proper sanitation facilities. India’s National Building Code 2016 prescribes a standard of 1 toilet/WC for 8 men in residential hostels. At RHM, the toilet ratio is 1 toilet for 13 men. Since our tenants work in two shifts, this translates more closely to 1 toilet for 8-10 men. The sanitation facilities have excellent natural lighting and ventilation. Our housekeeping staff cleans the hostel daily. The toilets are cleaned twice a day. Tenants appreciate these efforts, and many of them play their part in maintaining cleanliness.

In our tenant feedback surveys, 90-92% reported satisfaction with the cleanliness in the hostel’s dormitories, kitchen, dining space and sanitation facilities. 68-70% reported better cleanliness in these hostel spaces compared to their previous housing. When asked what they like most about RHM, 26% responses mentioned cleanliness. Nearly 30% reported reduced illness, with many attribuing this to cleanliness.

04/04/2026

This is Part 1 of a series on ShelterSquare’s Republic Hostel and Mess (RHM) in Sayan, Surat. Through this series, we focus on what adequate, affordable and value-added rental housing means in practice at RHM and the everyday experiences and impacts for our tenants.

The series also encourages us to reflect on the trade-offs that migrant workers make between housing affordability and housing adequacy, and the consequences on their lives. These trade-offs signal the gap between workers' affordability and the costs of ensuring adequate rental housing. At ShelterSquare, we call this gap a "dignity cost."

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Access to basic services is fundamental to adequate housing. This includes safe water, sanitation and hygiene—recognized by the Sustainable Development Goals as essential to health, well-being and the realization of human rights.

Yet, for many migrant workers, access to sufficient, safe, and accessible drinking water remains limited or absent. In our tenant feedback surveys, 84% of respondents reported better water access at RHM—which provides filtered drinking water—compared to their previous housing. When asked what they like most about RHM, 15% responses specifically mentioned clean drinking water with some appreciating that it comes at no additional cost. Nearly 30% of our tenants have reported reduced illness, with many attributing this to clean drinking water.

Public piped water provision is very limited in Sayan, an industrial hub located outside of Surat’s municipal limits. Its large migrant worker population lives mainly in rental rooms, where they either purchase 20-litre cans of bottled water for drinking and cooking purposes or simply consume bore-well water directly.

20-year-old Sushant* shared:
“Where I lived earlier, there was no filtered water, so I felt uneasy at times. Here, I feel healthier because I drink filtered water and eat better food.”

RHM’s drinking water station also includes an electric kettle, provided in response to tenants’ requests for warm drinking water, especially in the winter months.

Access to safe water extends beyond the hostel. Many tenants fill their bottles at RHM before leaving for work. In the powerloom units where they are employed, clean drinking water is often unavailable or insufficient, especially during the summer months. During long 12-hour shifts, where earnings depend on piece-rate wages, workers have to go to get water from other powerloom units or tea stalls.

Not all workers immediately recognize the importance of safe drinking water. RHM’s hostel managers—one of them a former powerloom worker himself—play a critical role. They regularly encourage tenants to carry water from the hostel to work and stay hydrated, especially in the hot season.

* name changed

25/03/2026

We are delighted to share that ShelterSquare’s initiative to provide adequate rental housing for single male migrant workers – Republic Hostel and Mess (RHM) in Sayan, Surat – has been selected by the UN-Habitat as a successful and impactful housing practice, one that demonstrates evidence of impact and and potential for learning and replicability.

Our housing initiative will be be featured at the World Urban Forum Practices Hub at the 13th World Urban Forum (WUF13) to be held in Baku, Azerbaijan under the theme “Housing the World: Safe and Resilient Cities and Communities.” It will also be featured in UN-Habitat’s online repository of good practices, which contributes to the knowledge base and ongoing work of UN-Habitat.

At RHM, we have been evolving a rental housing model through a learning-by-doing approach. Surveys with our hostel tenants show that for the majority, the hostel's facilities—water, toilets, bathing, sleeping arrangement, storage, cleanliness, food—are better than in their previous housing. Majority have also reported greater safety, improved social life and recreation, better sleep and reduced mental stress. Nearly 30% have reported less illness and 47% have said they feel less tired. In our 2024-25 survey, 35% reported a positive impact on their work; in our January 2026 survey, this rose to 47%. Our tenants stay with us for varying durations—from a few months to over a year. Imagine the potential gains in workers’ health, well-being and productivity with consistent, long-term access to affordable and adequate housing.

As UN-Habitat wrote in its call for housing practices, “as the global housing crisis deepens, the need for practical, scalable solutions to advance the New Urban Agenda (NUA) and SDG 11, has never been more urgent.”

At ShelterSquare, we emphasize the urgency of focusing on affordable, well-managed rental housing and dignified worksite housing for migrant workers and low-income communities if India is to achieve its ambition of Housing for All. Addressing this challenge at scale will require active involvement of multiple stakeholders: government at all levels; the employers of migrant and informal workers—a heterogeneous group, ranging from large-scale firms to small and medium scale enterprises with varying capacities to support better housing for their workers; housing finance institutions; philanthropies; rental housing providers and managers, and migrant worker and low-income communities themselves.

17/03/2026

ShelterSquare’s Republic Hostel and Mess (RHM) in Sayan, Surat, provides two daily meals to its tenants—migrant workers employed in 12-hour shifts in nearby powerloom units. Typically, they eat one meal in the mess and carry a tiffin to work.

Last week, the commercial gas cylinder crisis hit us too. We managed to arrange cylinders for a few extra days while exploring alternatives. Our tenants were anxious about whether the mess would continue, and our hostel manager convened a meeting and reassured everyone.

We have since set up wood-fired stoves (lakdi ka chulha) in the building’s parking area—made possible by our landlord’s support. We are relieved that we can keep serving meals to our tenants.

A few days ago, some migrant workers returning to Sayan from their villages came to RHM to ask if our mess was operational. On learning that it was, they immediately chose to stay with us.

For migrants living in shared rental rooms or in rooms within powerloom units, food access depends on nearby messes and eateries or small gas cylinders for cooking. We are seeing local food providers in the vicinity of RHM shutting down, while the prices of small gas cylinders have risen. One media report mentions that some powerloom unit owners are giving additional money or wage advances to help their workers cope with the cylinder prices. At the same time, powerloom units themselves are being impacted by the commercial gas shortage—raising concerns about potential job losses.

We hope the media will give greater attention to the vulnerability of migrant workers in these circumstances, and hope the government and industry / employers will take the necessary steps sooner rather than later.

Let us not forget the lessons of the Covid-19 migrant crisis.

11/03/2026

ShelterSquare director Swastik Harish attended a useful and insightful session hosted by the Community and Dasra on the use of technology in the social sector.

Swastik also shared his reflections on the advantages and limitations of open-source technology stacks, as well as the potential role of qualitative data in measurement and metrics within social-sector technology initiatives.

09/03/2026

We are happy to share that ShelterSquare Foundation launched its “Crèche Program” in February 2026. The program seeks to provide well-designed daycare facilities that integrate child safety, health and nutrition, and early childhood development for the children of migrant construction workers living in construction site labour colonies and in precarious bastis in Ahmedabad.

Children who migrate with their parents to construction sites grow up amid constant mobility and conditions that undermine their safety, health and development. During a critical period of physical and cognitive growth—when adequate nutrition, early learning, and emotional security are essential—they are instead exposed to malnutrition, limited caregiving due to intense work pressures on their mothers, and a lack of safe spaces to play and learn.

Our crèche program seeks to interrupt this cycle by creating safe, nurturing spaces. This also enables women construction workers to work with the assurance that their children are cared for by trained and compassionate staff.

The crèche program includes creating linkages with government services to facilitate access to supplementary nutrition under the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), immunization, and maternal healthcare at the nearest municipal Urban Health Centre. Besides this, the crèche serves as a space to facilitate construction workers’ access to entitlements under schemes of the Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board.

Our first crèche was set up in mid-February at a construction site in Ahmedabad in partnership with Aajeevika Bureau, Capstone Developers and M.K. Constructions. The crèche design involves a close collaboration among all partners, and will continue to evolve over the coming year to explore ways of creating a safe, comfortable and functional space that meets its intended purpose while being cost-effective.

Today, ShelterSquare's directors Mahesh Gajera Swastik Harish and Renu Desai visited the crèche. There are fewer children since most workers have gone to their villages for Holi. They will return soon, and the summer promises to be a busy time at the crèche.

Keep tuned to ShelterSquare's page to follow updates on our Crèche Program.

26/02/2026

ShelterSquare’s first project — Republic Hostel and Mess (RHM) in Sayan, Surat — provides quality accommodation and food to single male migrant workers in the powerloom industry. Over its 2+ years of operations, RHM has become a powerful space of learning for us.
On February 15, 2026, we participated in a session on workers' housing, health and productivity, organised by the South Gujarat Productivity Council during National Productivity Week. Industry owners and workers were both part of the conversation.
Renu Desai (director, ShelterSquare Foundation) presented our findings from the surveys and interviews with RHM tenants. The key takeaways were:
• Improved housing and food has positive impacts for workers’ physical and mental health.
• Better health positively influences work productivity
Dr. Vikas Desai (technical director, Urban Health and Climate Resilience Center of Excellence, Surat), in her talk, reinforced that safe and healthy housing is a key determinant of workers’ health and productivity.
During the discussion, Mahesh Gajera (director, ShelterSquare Foundation) highlighted a difficult reality: migrant workers often cut spending on housing and food to send remittances home — but the long-term costs to health and livelihood are significant.

The message from the session was clear: If we care about workers' productivity and livelihoods, we must care about their housing.

14/11/2024

SSF’s first pilot project, the Republic Hostel and Mess, in Sayan, Surat, is a workers’ hostel for single male migrants working in the powerloom industry. The hostel+mess was launched in October 2023 in partnership with Aajeevika Bureau Trust and Pravasi Shramik Suraksha Manch (PSSM), a union of powerloom workers. The hostel is designed to provide good quality accommodation and food to 160 workers while also catering as a mess to another 250 workers.

In October 2024, we completed one year, during which more than 550 migrant workers have lived at the hostel and availed its facilities for varying periods of time, from few weeks to several months, as per their requirements. Many are becoming longer-term tenants - they make a visit to their village for a few weeks to more than a month, and then return to live at the hostel. Over the past one year, our mess has served more than 57, 500 meals to workers. Our mess dining space doubles up as a recreational space for our worker tenants and hosts meetings of the PSSM.

We marked the completion of one year of the hostel with a celebration that brought together our tenants, the ShelterSquare and Aajeevika teams, PSSM leaders, powerloom owners, and leaders of the Odia community since majority of loom workers hail from Odisha.

We're looking forward to our journey ahead!

ShelterSquare Foundation

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