The foundation of urban cities like Kathmandu, quite literally, sits atop the blood, sweat and tears of the construction workers who overwhelmingly come from informal sectors. Most of their numbers are made by the in-migrant daily wage workers who come to Kathmandu to make a living. Not bound to any specific company or an employer, these footloose labourers gather around on major bus stops, also called labour chowks by the labourers, early in the morning and end up wherever their employer takes them. Kathmandu Valley alone has five major labour chowks including those in Baneswar, Mahalaxmisthan, Ratnapark, Thapathali, and Chakrapath. However, the government has hardly reckoned this labour force as leverage and has done anything tangible for the population. 

With no official data on the situation of this demographic, the research was conducted to firstly understand what made the labourers end up with this line of work, their challenges in this field and what could make it easier. Using an open-ended survey questionnaire, 50 labour workers were interviewed from five different locations: Mahalaxmisthan, Baneswar, Chakrapath, Ratnapark and Thapathali labour chowk. 

These labour chowks were often understood to be dominated by labourers from Tarai and Indian origins. That, however, seems to be changing. Although labourers from the Madhesh region can be seen dominantly with 30.6%, the other increasing labourers migrated to the Valley are from the eastern hilly districts with 34.7% indigenous nationalities and 8.2% Dalit. Contrary to what was assumed theoretically, this newly increasing demographic has a slightly different trend than the old ones who came to Kathmandu seasonally for employment; they bring their families, mostly wives and children, to the capital and survive with what they earn in a day. 

With no education and skill requirements, the labourers opt for this work for the daily earnings ranging from Rs 800 to Rs 2500 depending on the job which is much higher when compared to the monthly wages earned for menial jobs like this one. The main challenge, however, is to land the job for the day amidst the hundreds of labourers that gather around the labour chowk. The additional effects of the recession have only slimmed down the work opportunities for these labourers. Even after securing a job, getting their hard-earned money from the contractors who hired them is a common challenge. Lack of guiding regulations for this sector seems to be the root problem. When asked about what would make it easier, the underlying answer was to get guaranteed work opportunities.