Showing posts with label India. Show all posts
Showing posts with label India. Show all posts

Thursday, March 27, 2014

Repost: Kudumbasree’s masons all set to enter construction industry

Kudumbasree members undergo masonry training in Kochi.
Construction training for women happening in India!
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M. P. PRAVEEN

On successfully creating a pool of women engineers and supervisors in a largely male-dominated construction sector, the Kudumbasree Mission in the district is all set to expand its presence in the sector by training women in allied activities.

The mission is now focused on training skilled masons, plumbers and electricians.

A 90-day training in masonry for the first batch of 30 women has been completed and the second batch of 25 women is set to complete training this month-end. Ten of those who completed training are undergoing internship while many among the rest are doing independent works.

As part of their practical training, Kudumbasree members constructed three houses at Panayikkulam near Aluva. The houses are pucca houses and could be sold by the agency concerned, a senior Kudumbasree official in the district told The Hindu.

An agency based in Ettumanoor was roped in to create the module of training and to execute it. The same agency has been entrusted with training plumbers and electricians.

The masons trained under the programme will be roped in for projects to be undertaken by the construction wing of Kudumbasree, thereby helping them gain more experience and get more works.

A pool of 37 engineers and supervisors trained by KITCO and split into three teams is now equipped to take up construction assignments.

The agreement for their first assignment, a project to construct houses for scheduled communities at Edakkattuvayal, is likely to be signed soon after the Lok Sabha elections scheduled for April 10.

The training module for plumbers and electricians has already been prepared. Training will start only after the elections to avoid violation of the model code of conduct in force.

Applications are being sought from aspiring candidates through the neighbourhood Kudumbasree units. Attitude and aptitude for the job are paramount considerations.

The Kudumbasree Mission is looking to train a batch of 20 plumbers and 20 electricians initially,

The Ernakulam branch of the mission was the first to initiate training for engineers, supervisors, masons, plumbers and electricians. Now, Wayanad and Palakkad units are planning to launch training programmes in masonry.

The district unit of the mission has concluded training for supervisors and engineers in the construction sector for the time being.

The project was implemented with the aid of HUDCO and it would be resumed only if someone offered assistance, the official said.

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Repost: Weighed Down

In India, women (who make up about 50% of construction workers there) are told that they "aren't smart enough" to do the skilled construction work. In the United States, women are told they "aren't strong enough" to really do construction.

Do all the smart women live in the United States and all the strong women live in India? We think not.

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Photo: Mohammed Yousuf
The HinduPhoto: Mohammed Yousuf

The construction industry in India has always been male-dominated, with men doing the more skilled jobs and women reduced to unskilled labour. Women are involved mostly in physical work such as carrying construction material, breaking bricks and rocks, cleaning, etc. However, women construction labourers often face discrimination in wage payment. It has been found that women workers are usually paid 40 to 60 per cent less than men; sometimes even below the minimum wages set by the government.

Apart from that, there are hardly separate facilities like toilets, first-aid and child care for the women workforce at construction sites. Women labourers work under serious life and health risks with no safety gear and a polluted environment.

In the photograph, the camera captures women toiling at a construction site in Hyderabad.

Visit http://www.thehindu.com to view the original article.