chapter ii review of literature and...
TRANSCRIPT
CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF LITERATURE AND CONCEPTS
2.1 INTRODUCTION
This chapter analyses the views and main findings of different authors on
the economic conditions of construction workers. The study of related literature
implies locating, reading and evaluating reports of casual observation and
opinions that are related to the individual’s planned research work. Further, the
concepts used in the present study have been discussed.
2.2 REVIEW OF LITERATURE
The labour bureau of the government of India conducted and adhoc survey
of Labour conditions in the building and construction industry in 19541. Another
survey about contract labour in some selected industries was conducted by the
Labour bureau during 1957-1961.2 But the data reported in both surveys were as
reported by contractors and had the limited objectives findings out the nature and
extend of contract labour in the country and there was no analysis about the
1 Government of India, Labour Bureau of Labour Conditions in the Building
and Construction Industry in India , Manager of publications. New Delhi. 1954.
2 Government of India Labour Bureau, Contact Labour. A Study of selected
Industries, Manager of Publication, New Delhi, 1961.
32
workers. Moreover these survey related to the workers in the organised
construction units.
The report of the building Civil Engineering and Public work committee of
the international labour Organisation (ILO)3 in 1964 related only to migration and
other basic problems. The publication of the Government of India prior to
independence like the report of royal commission on labour in India 19314 and
the report of the labour investigation committee of 1946 dealt with the working
condition of the construction workers in India with some details on the daily
wages. This reports have given the details of wages paid and the terms of
employment. But they did not analyse wages and working condition as this was
the first attempts to identify and assess the total number of construction workers
in the country.
A study was undertaken by Vaid and Gurdial Singh5 about the contract
labour in the construction industry in Kota, an industrial centre in Rajasthan. In
this study the authors have collected data directly from a sample of 450 workers.
3 International Labour Organisation (ILO) - The Building Civil Engineering and
Public Works Committee Report III, Seasonal and Migrant Workers, Seventh session,
Geneva 1964.
4 Government of India, Royal Commission on Labour in India, Calcutta 1931.
5 K.N. Vaoid and Gurudial Singh, Contract labour in construction industry - A
Study in Rajasthan, Sri Ram Press, New Delhi. 1966.
33
This study was related to the wages and working conditions of the construction
workers under the organised sector.
Jan Wittrock (1967)6 made a study on seasonal unemployment in the
construction industry in Paris city of France in 1967. The study titled methods of
stabilizing construction activity, employment and income mainly concentrated
about the seasonal unemployment of construction workers and income earned. It
revealed that the income was irregular and low due to the existence of
unemployment.
C.K. Johri and S.M. Pandey7 studied the management of construction
labour in selected chemical plants in India in 1970. This study was also about the
workers in organised sector and analyses the violation of the legislative protection
and other abuses.
Dimitri and A. Germidios8 made a study on labour conditions and
industrial relations in the building industry in Mexico during 1974. This study
6 John Wittrock, Methods Of Stabilizing Construction Methods of Stabilizing
Construction Activity, Employment and Income (Paris - Organisation for Economic
Co-operation and Development, 1967), p.187.
7 C.K.Johri and S.M.Pandey, Management of Construction Workers in Selected
Chemical Plants in India, Sri Ram Centre for Industrial Relations and Human
Resources, New Delhi. 1970.
8 Dimitri and A. Germidios, Development Centre of the Organisation for
Economic Co-operation Development Employment Series Nos. (Paris : Development
Centre Studies 1974), p.184.
34
was mainly concerned about a growth of construction industry due to the growth
of industrial development . Hence they attempted to analyse the relationship
between the labour conditions in building industry of the industrial relations in
Mexico. They have found through their study that the conditions of Labour in
building industry and the industrial relation were good.
A study was done by John Weeks (1975)9 on the employment policies in
the informal urban sector of developing economies. In this study the position of
enterprise vis-a-vis the state emerges as the main distinguishing features between
two sectors . All government activities fall under formal sector. The private sector
units are recognised , supported by rules and regulations of the government like
Licensing, wages, tariffs, quotas, tax rebates and holidays preferences to use
foreign technology. But according to the study, these units under informal sector
do not carry the benefits.
The study was by Sinha and Ranade10
(1976) on "Women construction
workers one in Delhi covering nine construction sites and one in Bihar covering
two major government projects. This study was about the socio democratic
characteristics of women workers , a system of recruitment , working conditions,
9John Weeks, "Employment Policies in the Informal urban sector of developing
economies" International Labour Review, Jan.1975, p.13.
10G.P.Sihan and S.N. Ranade, Women construction workers" A Study in Delhi.
Alliar Publishers, New Delhi, 1976, p.64.
35
type of work, wage rates, health, living condition, welfare facilities on economic
conditions. It was also about the women workers in the organised construction
sectors and dealt with non-compliances of welfare measures.
C.M. Palvia and V.Jaganathan11
studied the "Employment problems of
building construction labour in Kaval Town of Uttar Pradesh” in 1978. In their
study it was found that in the urban areas considerable construction activity were
carried out and therefore the economic conditions were said to be good in urban
areas of Uttarpradesh. But in the case of rural areas it was difficult to get
employment in construction sector because no such considerable building
activities were carried out.
Another study was about the construction labour market at Ahmedabad in
Gujarat by Subramanian, Veena and Parikh12
in 1979. The study covered 64
construction work sites and 1000 workers. This study also analysed details of
various types of construction activities, categories of workers employed and their
social economic characteristics , earnings and conditions of work and levels of
living,. It also revealed that more than 50 percent of workers are in the
unorganised sector, receiving monthly wages with permanent employment. It
11C.M. Palvia and V.Jaganathan, Employment Problems on Building
Construction Labour in Kaval Town of Uttar Pradesh, The Indian Institute of Public
Administration, New Delhi, 1978, p.132.
12K.K. Subramanian., Veena, and K. Parikh Banumathi, Construction Labour
Market - A Study in Ahmedabad, Sardar Patel Institute of Economics and Social
Research, Ahmedabad (Gujarat), 1979.
36
analysed the abuses in the wage payment and the role of contractors due to excess
supply of labours.
The study was done by the World Bank Staff (1975). It has highlighted the
following findings. Most of the workers are old women and uneducated. Informal
sector wages are low, it serves as an entry point of migrants from rural areas.
Their incomes are atleast equal or greater than the rural poor. The average income
in this sector is increasing faster than average agricultural incomes. The
horizontal development informal sector is not increasing urban inequality. Urban
inequality accentuated by the government policy of ignoring the employment
growth aspect in formal sector and not by the growth of informal sector.
One study by Guha and Thakuzta13
is about the contract labour in
construction industry in Tripura in 1980. The study concentrated mostly on the
conditions of employment wage determination of unorganised labour and labour
welfare and social security measures for the workers. But the study was confined
only to workers in the road construction sector and tent with non implementation
of welfare measures by the construction agencies
13
S.N. Guha, Thakurta The Study of the Contract Labour in Construction Industry in Tripura In 1980, Firm Skim Private Ltd., Calcutta , 1980, p.66.
37
There was a study of the urban informal sector in Ahmedabad city by
Papola14
(1981). After stating the concepts and significance of informal sector he
tried to give an estimate of the same by using a suitable method. Then he goes on
to analyse the structure of the city's economy by studying the units first and then
independent workers. Then the income and employment generation of the
informal sector was assessed. Finally the characteristics of the informal sector
workers were studied and described.
A study was made of the poor in the urban informal sector in Bangalore
city by Alidal Aziz (1984)15
. First the informal sector concept has ben defined and
clarified at the activity level and the enterprises level. Then some theoritical and
policy issues regarding the labour absorption in the urban sector were discussed .
Next an estimate of the informal sector in Bangalore city was given. An economic
and social profile of the waste recycle workers in the city who were supposed to
form the target groups namely the urban poor was presented. The waste pieces of
paper, gunny bags, bottles, tins, cloths, plastics, metal pieces and wooden steels
were divided into four categories and the workers were classified as waster
pickers, bulk buyers, petty manufacturers and retailers. Their production and
market relations were studied in this study.
14 T.S. Papola, Urban Informal Sector in Developing City. Vikas Publication,
New Delhi, 1981.
15
Abdul Aziz, Urban Poors and Urban Informal Sector, Ashish Publishing
House, 1984.
38
Sudha Kumari16
in her article on women workers in unorganised sector in
India stated the following . The unorganised sector provides employment to a very
high proportion of working women in India. Women workers are not only
concentrated at low paying jobs, but their pay is also lower than that of men
workers in equal capacity . Her study is based on the secondary data for the period
1971-81. Unemployment, wage and occupational discrimination are the main
problems of the women workers in the sector. Corrective measures like poverty
eradication programme, Mahila Mandal scheme and law distribution can improve
the lot of women in this sector.
M.L. Jesudoss17
studied the wages and working conditions of construction
workers in Madurai city in India in 1990. This study was about the migratory
nature, recruitment, social profile of organised construction workers, methods of
wage payment, wage structure, level of differential working conditions, legislative
protection, and socio economic characteristics of the organised construction
workers. Proper enforcement of welfare measures can improve their position.
This was the findings of his study.
16
Sudha Kumari, "Women workers in unorganised sector in India”, Yojana , July
1 - 15., 1989, p.10.
17
M.L. Jesudoss, Wages and working condition of construction workers in Madurai city in India Published Ph.D Thesis, Madurai Kamaraj University, 1990.
39
The empirical studies carried out in Africa18
, in South America (Psacharo
Poulos and Stein, 1988,19
Roubeand 1991) and in Asia well demonstrated the
complexity and heterogeneity of the informal sector. The latter does not impact a
simple low wage, easy access transition sector but indeed is involved in several
segments. Various points raised by G. Fields,20
cast renewed doubt on the
simplistic version of informal sector such as facility of access, lower wages than
in the formal sector and the origin in rural areas. The inference is that people stay
in the informal sector by obligation rather than by choice.
Another study was made by Vijay and Heather Josi on the Bombay City
(1976)21
. They have distinguished the city's informal sector units under three
aspects as a ) market structure, b) technology, c) relationship with government.
Total number of units identified by the study were 41,291 and they employed
1,03,500 workers. Out of the universe the selected 399 units provide for 1534
workers. The study has examined nature of activity, wage fixation, procedure etc.
18
K. Hart , "Informal income opportunities and urban unemployment in Ghana).
Journal of Modern African Studies, Vol. II , 1973.
19
S.Theilnet - Waldrof, "Earnings of Self Employed in an Formal Sector . A Case
Study of Bank,” Economic Development and Culture Change, Vol.31, No.2, April
1988.
20
G. Fields, Lo moderlisation du marchdu travail et le secteur informal urban
latherique et l empirique in Nouvelles approaches du sectur informal Paris OECD
Development Centre Seminar, Paris, 1990, pp.53-79.
21
Vijay and Heather Josi, Surplus Labour and the City: A Study of Bombay,
OUP, Delhi. 1976.
40
of the informal sector units in contrast to those in the formal sector and tried to
draw a boundary between the two.
Sethuraman’s22
survey study (1976) has helped to clarify in the matter of
definition, measurement and policy regarding informal sector. Two types of
identifications were possible. One was the identification of units that are
characterised by the Income, level of the workers. Another was by identifying
characteristics that determine the income like personal characteristics,
occupational characteristics and enterprises characteristics etc. Of the two, the
latter seems better. The purpose was to direct policies and programmes to help the
urban poor. The study was concentrated on three aspects. They are
1. Information on units and their linkages with rest of the economy.
2. Information about head of enterprises
3. Household information
The term " Informal sector" was first used in a study on Ghana 23
and then
taken up in the report of ILO/UNDP employment mission to Kenya 24
. From then,
it has been used widely in development and employment literature. The exact
22
S.V.Sethuraman, "The Urban Informal Sector Concepts Measurement and
Policy". International Labour Review Vol. III, No. 1, 1976, pp 69-81.
23Keith Hart, "Informal Income opportunities and urban employment in Ghana:.
Journal of Modern African Studies, March, 1973, pp.61-89.
24International Labour Organisation, Employment, Incomes and Equality: A
Study for Increasing Productive Employment in Kenya (Geneva 1972).
41
definition for informal sector is difficult to be mentioned because it differs from
study to study depending on the conceptual frame work of a particular study.
Ghana study has also called the informal sector as the "unenumerated sector"
because no data about it is collected by the statistical machinery. Another study
described the informal sector as the unprotected sector because wages and
conditions of work of employees in this sector are not protected by law. Most
researchers and writers in this field have tried to classify the urban economy into
two or three sectors on the basis of a set of characteristics chosen a priori. It
would be for better if the characteristics of the informal sector are deduced from
an analysis of actual situation.
C.K. Johri and S.M. Panday(1972)25
have given a detailed picture about
mobility, income, indebtedness, recruitment and training, wages and earnings and
job satisfaction of the construction workers in Delhi. This study sponsored by the
National Building organisation was about the employment of workers in the
building industry in Newdelhi.
Dennis F. Dolan (1979)26
has studied the historical background of the
British construction industry and nothing about the construction workers.
25 C.K.Johri and S.M.Panday , Employment Relationship in Building Industry,
A Study in Delhi Sri Ram Centre for Industrial Relations and Human Relations 1972,
p.63. 26 The British Construction Industry on introduction in the year 1979
42
The ILO - UNDP employment mission to Kenya27
adopted the term
informal sector in 1972. The study has described the informal sector as a sector
which has the following characteristics.
� easy entry for new enterprises and workers.
� reliance on indigenous resources
� family ownership.
� Small scale operation
� unregulated and competitive product markets.
� Labour intensive technology.
� Informally acquired skills.
� low wage levels.
� Unprotected labour markets.
Division is based only on enterprises and not on individuals.
T.S. Papola (1979)28
in his study listed some prominent characteristics of
informal sector units after explaining how difficult it is to precisely define
informal sector . Small size of operation, informal structure and family ownership,
use of non model technology, lack of assets to get government favour (subsidies
27 Ibid
28T.S. Papola, Informal Sector: Concepts and Policy, The Giri Institute of
Development Studies, Lucknow, December, 1979.
43
etc), competitive unprotected product and labour market are the prominent
characteristics of informal sector are identified and elaborated by Papola.
By the fag end of 1960 there existed an optimism about the increased
economic growth as a means to give way to concerns about persisting widespread
unemployment and the stable size of the traditional sector . Reflecting these
concerns international labour organisation ILO, conducted many employment
missions to various countries. The first mission was to Kenya in Africa in 1972.
The Kenya mission recognised the traditional sector as the informal sector. They
found the size of the informal sector not only persisted but also expanded. Once it
was confined only to the marginally protective activities . However it included
profitable and efficient enterprises. The informal sector activities were largely
ignored, rarely supported, often regulated and sometimes actively discouraged by
policy makers and governments. The international labour organisation mission
found that the informal sector in Kenya was efficient, creative and resilient.
A study of the informal sector in India has come up with the following
conclusions. Informal sectors both in terms of employment and income have been
a predominent sector of the Indian Economy. In 1981 , the sector accounted for
91.1 percent of the total national employment and 65.66 percent of income
generated the economy during the period of 1960-61 to 1981-82. While the
organised sector grew at an average annual rate of 12.57 percent (income growth
44
rate), the unorganised sector recorded a growth rate of 9.37 percent of the
economy as a whole, recorded a higher growth rate of 11.36 percent indicating
slight declining trend of the organised sector. While the aggregate of above trend
is clear , the urban informal sector has been growing during the period. The share
of the urban informal sector in the total income of the unorganised sector
increased from 29.35 percent to 43.56 percent during the period of 1960-61 to
1981-82. The average earning per employee in the rural informal sector and urban
informal sector was both less than those of the unorganised sector employee. The
organised sector earnings per capita were several times higher than the
unorganised sector earnings per capita.
While the share of wage / salary income in the case of organised sector was
more than two-third in the case of the unorganised sector, it was less than a
quarter. From the above it is clear that within the private sector the unorganised
sector was predominant.
M. L. Jesudoss's (1983)29
study mainly dealt with wages, recruitment,
working and living condition of construction workers in Nagamalai areas of
Madurai district in Tamilnadu of India which is a semi urban area. The study
revealed that the wage rate was low and working and living condition in the study
area were poor.
29M.L. Jesudoss, Socio-Economic Study of Construction Workers in Nagamalai
Pudukkottai Area, Unpublished M.Phil Disertation, Madurai Kamaraj University, 1983.
45
Many researchers however believe that this sector is for the workers who
are unskilled and poorly paid owing to the fact that jobs created in this context are
not very productive. It could be argued that the productivity of workers in the
urban informal sectors is not zero. Some researchers analysed the interaction
between the formal and informal urban labour markets by emphasizing a
phenomenon of substituteability rather than complementablity in the short run. In
this context skilled and unskilled workers laid off in the formal sector may seek
employment in the informal sector when the output growth was weak
A. Joseph Anand (1987)30
has studied about the migration of construction
workers from Nagercoil to Trivandrum. His study did not cover the working and
living conditions of construction workers belonging to Nagercoil. But a
comparative analysis of wages in Nagercoil and nearby Trivandrum has been
studied. Virudhunagar District is an industrially developed district and having
very great urban bias . A study of working, living and economic conditions of
construction workers in Virduhunagar District is entirely different.
S.R. Karroy (1987)31
studied the nature of work, recruitment, duration of
employment, living and working condition of construction workers in Calcutta
30 A. Joseph Anand, Migration of Construction Workers from Nagercoil to
Trivandrum, Unpublished M.Phil Disertation, Scott Christian College, Nagercoil, 1987.
31
S.R. Karroy, The Role of Building Workers in India - A Study In Calcutta,
Chattargi Publishers, 1987, p.13..
46
City in 1987. It revealed that by the support of trade union activities , the
conditions of the workers were good.
C.K. Johri and S.M. Pandey32
have dealt in detail about the nature of
employment in the building industry, labour supply, mobility, income and
indebtedness of construction labours, recruitment and training, working and living
condition, wages and grievances procedure and disputes settlement. The study
was based on the information collected from 159 work sites and 800 workers. The
most important fact about this study was that the 159 work sites were under the
control of leading construction firms in New Delhi and the 800 sample workers
were on permanent employment . Hence this study was about organised and
permanent workers.
A pilot study was done about the informal sector in Madurai city by
S.V.Hariharan and R.E. Benjamin33
(1991). It was essentially a pilot study and it
was a preliminary investigation about the informal sector in Madurai City. The
study was mainly intended to explore some of the basic economic aspects of the
unorganised sector in Madurai city. The study has investigated in detail about the
nature of the unorganised sector, concentration , employment pattern , wage level
and working condition, investment pattern of ownership , technology employed ,
32 Ibid. 33
S.V. Hariharan, R.E.Benjamin, Informal Sector: A Study of Labourers in Madurai City, Published by Printwell, Jaipur, 1991.
47
energy requirement, nature of the market for the goods produced in the informal
sector and the size of the population depending on informal sector. The study
made a lot of interesting findings about the unorganised sector and thus will be of
much use to the planners, policy makers and researchers in the field. The study
will also help to gather a better understanding and clear idea about the different
socio-economic dimensions of the labourers in unorganised sector and this will
prove particularly to be a high utility to the town planners in designing the
policies of Town Planning and Urbanisation.
P. Arumugam and P. James Daniel Paul34
made a study on "The Problems
of organising the construction workers in Coimbatore" in 1995. As the study area,
Coimbatore is industrially and economically developed place, there is ample
scope for the development of construction activity and hence it leads to raise the
scope for the employment opportunities to the construction workers. Therefore the
authors have attempted to make a study on the problems of organising the workers
in construction industry. The workers are scattered and diverted to the industrial
work. Fixing higher wage bringing construction workers from other district and
providing free food and shelter were the major findings from their study.
34P. Arumugam and P. James Daniel Paul, The Indian Journal Labour
Economics, 1995, p.38.
48
Shah and Vinitha35
did a study of women building workers in Mumbai in
1996. They focused on the employment safety measures, sanitation facilities etc.
They visited 150 work sites and met 300 women construction workers. The study
revealed that workers are unprotected by law, get low wages, and have poor
sanitation facilities.
L. Venkatasamy36
(1998) made a study about five categories of platform
retail shop, automen, nightstall, fast food, saloon, and Tailor shops. The study
covers 500 samples of Chennai Urban unorganised workers. To study the pattern
of ownership, estimate the capital invested , estimate the number of workers
employed and to study the marketing conditions of the product were the major
objectives of the study. The study revealed that the majority of the units operated
under the single ownership and only a few units are run under partnership. The
initial investment made in 500 units was Rs.50 Lakhs. The total number of
workers employed in the informed sector was as a whole came to 1,50,000. These
are the major findings of the study.
35Shah and Vinita, Women Building Workers in Mumbai, National Institute of
Construction Management and Research, Mumbai 1996.
36
L. Venkatasamy, Informal Sector in Urban Economic Development: A Study of Chennai city, Published Ph.D. Thesis, University of Madras, 1998.
49
Francis37
(1999) studied "Women informal sector workers in Chennai city”
who prepare flower shops, paper covers, Polythene covers, ladies tailoring, toys.
He studied 300 respondents in Chennai city . He had studied about the survival of
units through the year of establishments , the marketing conditions of the
products. Most of the units belonging to all the units except flower shops had
been established before a period of 5 years. This study made it clear that the
informal sector in Chennai city was not governed by the labour act and the labour
work was more than 8 hours per day.
WIEGO (2000)38
comprised membership based organisation of informal
workers, labour related NGOs, research and statistical institutions, and
international development agencies. WIEGO seeks to increase the visibility and
voice of those who work in the informal economy and to promote supportive
policies for the informal work force would be wide. It did so by promoting
improved research statistics and policy analyse on the informal economy and by
helping to strengthen the research and policy analysis capacity of membership
based oragnisation of informal workers. Informal economy is required in almost
developing countries. Well over half of the work force and a sizeable share of
economic units operate outside the scope of existing legislation, regulations, and
37Francis , "Women Informal Sector Workers in Chennai city", A Study in 1999.
38
WIEGO : Women informal employment globalising and organising. Forum for women workers defined informal sector 2000.
50
policies and therefore did not receive the incentives, benefits or promotions
thereof.
R. Rajarathinam39
(2001) of Tirunelveli District in Tamilnadu, South India
has made a study about Dalit unorganised workers living in Rural areas of
Tirunelveli District. In his study he focused on the reasons for illiteracy, poor
living and working condition. His study did not cover the construction sectors .
Low bargaining power, low level of wage rate, highly migratory nature, deep
indebtedness are the major findings for the poor socio economic conditions of
Dalits.
B. Ponnusamy40
in his study in 2003 stated about the economic
backwardness of the construction workers , social ignorance of working
conditions, low level of age rate, existence of poor working conditions,
unavailability of employment are the major findings of this study.
2.3. CONCEPTS USED
MASONS
Masons are skilled workers, who usually have no specialised training but
acquire their skills through apprenticeship under experienced head masons from
39 R. Rajarathinam, A Socio Economic study of unorganised SC/ST (Dalit)
workers in Tirunelveli area with a special reference to Tirunelveli District of Tamilnadu, Published Ph.D Thesis, 2001.
40 B. Ponnusamy, Socio Economic conditions of worker in urban informal
sector - A study of construction workers in Chennai city, Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, Madras University, 2003.
51
the youth. The masons are to execute the work according to the plan and
directions given by Engineer. These workers also enjoy some kind of supervisory
powers over the unskilled workers. In North America according to OPCMIA, the
masons are defined as "Plasters and Cement masons' in the construction
industry.41
They finish interior walls and ceiling of buildings and apply plaster on
Masonry, metal and wire bath or gypsum. Masons are responsible for all concrete
construction including pouring and finishing of slabs, steps, wall tops, cubs and
gutters, sidewalks, paving and other concrete construction.
Masons are often responsible for setting the concrete forms ensuring that
they have the correct depth and pitch. They place the concrete either directly from
the concrete wagon chute, concrete pumpe, concrete skip or wheel barrow. They
spread the concrete using shovels and rakes. Sometimes using a straightedge back
and forth across the top of the forms to "screed" or level, the freshly placed
concrete after levelling the concrete the smooth surface using either a hand
masonry trowela long handed "bull float" or powered floats. After the concrete
has been levelled and floated, masons press the edges between the forms and the
concrete to give a chamfered edge that is less likely to chip.
MAZDOOR
This category of workers are mostly unskilled and classified into two
namely Mazdoor 1 and Mazdoor 2. Mazdoor 1 includes all male unskilled
41
The Operative Plasters ' and Cement Masons International Association
(OPCMIA) of the United States and Canada - Labour Union, 2000.
52
construction workers who are belonging to the age group of 18 to 50 years.
Mazdoor 2 includes all female unskilled construction workers of 18 to 40 years.
They are migratory in nature moving from contract to another contractor and from
one place to another. Carrying mortar, water, bricks, stones, pouring water on
walls and bringing construction materials to the work sites are the main jobs of
these workers according to NFM, Mumbai.42
Mazdoor 1 category of workers become the future masons. They are
helping in execution of masonry works. They do excavation works. Their works
include lifting of heavy stones, bricks, mortor , mixing cement with sand and
helping masons in the execution of work. These workers are also expert in laying
the foundation.
Mazdoor 2 category of workers are unskilled female workers. Their work
includes carrying sand , water, mortar, cement, bricks, stones, weathering bricks,
breaking stones and pouring water on walls. They are very weak in bargaining
power and they are ill treated in the work site. They have no sanitation facilitation
such as toilet, bathroom facilities.
CARPENTERS
A carpenter is a skilled craftsman who performs carpentry - a wide range of
wood working that includes constructing buildings furniture and other objects out
42
National Federation of Mazdoors, Mumbai, 2004.
53
of the wood. The work generally involves significant manual labour and work
outdoors particularly in rough carpentry supplying and fixing the teak wood and
country wood objects such as doors, windows, furniture etc. to be fixed in
position. Preparation works including cutting, grooving, placing, tying, positions
of fixtures such as hinges, hooks, clocks, keys etc.
Seasoning, Planning, chiselling, carving the ornamental works etc are the
main work of the carpenters. The formation of wooden joists, rafters, reapers in
position for the formation of roofings and partition walls, false ceiling etc. are the
second functions of the carpenters. It is found that most of the carpentry workers
are belonging to the particular community which known as Viswakarma or Asari
which is included in the list of Backward community in Virudhunagar District.
This kind of occupations is done by only male workers. It is also one of the male
dominated occupation in India. Carpentry in the United states is almost done by
men with 98.5 percent of carpenters being male and it was the fourth most male
dominated occupation in the country in 1999.43
PAINTERS
A painter is a tradesman responsible for the painting and decorating of
buildings and is also known as Decorator. Whitewashing, colour washing, snow
43
Carpentry Occupational Institution, United States of America, 1999.
54
cem coating, Distemper coating such as Prime Coat and Main coating are the first
functions of the painter.
The wooden objects such as doors, windows, almirahs, cubboards , ward
robes etc. are to be painted with best enamel or plastic emulsion over a coat of
primer. This is the second function of the painter.
Varnishing the teakwood objects and steel grills, painting over a coat of
metal primer is the third function of the painter according to P.S. Company,
London in 1998.44
Painters in construction industry work in unhygienic conditions. The
chemical content in painting objects affects the painting workers and causes
allergy in the body of the painters. They feel sometimes fear while they stand and
work at great heights in the building. There is no compensation for workers in
time of injuries / accidents that happened in working places.
ELECTRICIAN
An electrician is a tradesman specialising in electrical wiring of buildings
and related equipment. Electricians may be employed in the installation of new
electrical components or the maintenance and repair of existing electrical
infrastructure.
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Painter – Stainers Company, London, 1998.
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The electrical wiring from the electricity board main pole to the electric
meter fitted in the new building such as open wiring, concealed wiring is the main
work of an electrician. Fixing of switch boards, main fittings such as light points,
fan points at certain appliances such as Air condition units, Heaters , dishnets etc.
are the other work of electrician. The dust system of under ground cable
connection is the third function of an Electrician.
Electricians are also used as the name for a rope in stage crafts where
electricians are tasked primarily with hanging, focusing and operating stage
lighting. In this context, the Master Electrician is the show's chief Electrician.
Although Theatre Electrician routinely performs electrical work on stage lighting
instruments and equipments, they are not part of the electrical trade and have a
different set of skills and qualifications from the electricians that work on building
wiring.
In the United Kingdom, United states and Australia "Spark" or "Sparky" is
a slang term for an Electrician used in a magazine in 2001.45
45
‘Electrician’ Published Magazine in London, United States and Australia, 2001.