Video of labourer carrying bricks on head up 21 floors of four-lift building sparks debate

A video showing a labourer climbing a building's stairs with heavy bricks on his head is being widely watched on social media. He is said to have been carrying the bricks to the 21st floor of a building that has four lifts.

The video was posted by a local resident. According to the resident, the labourer was not allowed to use any of the four lifts to carry the bricks, which is why he had to go up the stairs on foot.

While recording, the resident said: "There are 4 lifts in this building. But he is not allowed to take the bricks in the lift, so he is climbing 21 floors with bricks on his head. This is the situation here. It is such things that will surely make our country 'progress'!" The resident asked why the labourer was not allowed to take a lift.

The video has set off a discussion on how labourers are treated. People are also questioning the rules under which labourers are stopped from carrying construction material in lifts.

Social media users have criticised the incident. Many asked why a labourer had to endure such physical hardship to get the work done.

A user on X posted in Hindi, in a post dated October 31, 2026, that the question is not one of rich and poor but of human dignity and respect for hard work. According to the post, the 21-storey building has four modern lifts, yet the labourer who built it has to climb the stairs carrying a 20-kg load on his head. The post went on to say it is an irony that there is no facility for the very people who build the building, and that a development with no place for the dignity and humanity of workers is bound to be questioned. The post ended by asking @grok whether this was true.

Another user called it a waste of time. The user wrote: "What a waste and loss of productivity! Carrying bricks up the stairs takes a great deal of time, which will also delay the construction. This is utterly ridiculous."

Carrying bricks up several floors by the stairs can also slow down construction. For now, the discussion is confined to social media.