Economics – construction workers

India’s construction industry is large and visible engaging 3.2 crore workers
national wide. For most of these workers, the construction industry is their
principal source of employment. Construction activity is integral to a country’s
infrastructure and industrial development. It includes hospitals, schools,
townships, offices, houses, and other buildings, urban infrastructure (including
water supply sewerage, drainage) highways, roads, ports, railways, airports
power systems, irrigation, agriculture system, telecommunications etc. the
construction becomes the basic input for socio-economic development of the
country. Construction workers may be broadly classified as skilled and
unskilled. Though child labour is prohibited children are engaged in unskilled
jobs. Most of the workers in this sector are employed on a casual basis.
Construction workers’ basic work characteristics are unstable
employment/earnings and shifting workplaces.
Employment in construction is usually interspersed with periods of
unemployment of varying duration, mainly due to fluctuating requirements of
the labour force in each worksite. The nature of work is such that there are no
holidays. It is established that female workers do not in general get minimum
wages. The problems of construction workers differ from place to place and
work to work depending on the noise, chemicals, tools or equipment,
availability of safety measures, height, and environment. However, the
problems faced by construction workers are more than that by the workers in
other sectors. Hence, the study of construction workers' problems is important
and has drawn the attention of researchers worldwide. It has been seen that
construction workers undergo various problems such as casual nature of
employment, ignorance and illiteracy, wage discrimination, irregular work,
absence of social security, uncertain working hours, unsafe working
environment, occupational disease, injuries, improper implementation of
labour law, lack of labour welfare activities, exploitation, noise, temperature
and ultraviolet radiation, excessive vibration, working at heights, non-
availability of raw materials, delays in wage payment, and cost of material in
the study area.
Construction sectors Broadly, there are three sectors of construction:
buildings, infrastructure and industrial:
• Building construction is usually further divided into residential and non-
residential.
• Infrastructure, also engineering called heavy civil or heavy, includes large
public works, dams, bridges, highways, railways, water or wastewater and
utility distribution.
• Industrial construction includes offshore construction (mainly energy
installations), mining and quarrying, refineries, chemical processing, power
generation, mills, and manufacturing plants.
Building construction is the process of adding structures to areas of land, also
known as real property sites. Typically, a project is instigated by or with the
owner of the property (who may be an individual or an organisation);
occasionally, land may be compulsorily purchased from the owner for public
use.
Residential construction (eg: retail, leisure, offices, public buildings, etc.)
Residential construction practices, technologies, and resources must conform
to local building authority regulations and codes of practice. Materials readily
available in the area generally dictate the construction materials used (eg:
brick versus stone versus timber). Costs of construction on a per square meter
(or per square foot) basis for houses can vary dramatically based on site
conditions, access routes, local regulations, economies of scale (custom-
designed homes are often more expensive to build) and the availability of
skilled tradespeople.

Non-residential construction Depending upon the type of building, non-

residential building construction can be procured by a wide range of private
and public organisations, including local authorities, educational and religious
bodies, transport undertakings, retailers, hoteliers, property developers,
financial institutions and other private companies. Most construction in these
sectors is undertaken by general contractors.

General Problems of workers engaged in Construction Industries:

Construction Industries is ‘’labour–intensive’’ and employs around 40 million
people in unorganised sectors in India. The term unorganised labour can be
defined as those workers who have not been able to organise themselves in
pursuit of their livelihood and basic common interests due to certain
constraints like the casual nature of their employment, their migration from
one state to another state in want of employment, ignorance and illiteracy
among people, small and scattered size of establishments near their
hometown etc.
a. Delayed Payment to workers employed in Construction Projects
No timely payment is one of the major problems for construction workers. The
construction workers need the timely payment for their daily bread water and
survival. This is the actual reason that most of the time they are agreed to
work at a lesser rate.
b. Workplace Injuries due to Lack of Safety Awareness and no Use of PPEs
In Construction Industries, a moderate lack of awareness is found among most
construction workers about their safety, well-being and working conditions.
The basic PPEs (Personal Protective Equipment) are not issued to construction
workers due to their employment through Contractor agencies. Most
Construction workers are illiterate and fail to understand the hidden workplace
risk. Sometimes they are not aware of their daily working hours and due to
continuous work, with no rest breaks, sometimes they get acute tiredness
which causes unwanted injuries or sometimes, accidents. Due to a lack of
awareness about construction-related hazards, the accident percentage is
quite high at construction sites
c. Lack of Social Security: it is the duty of the concerned contractor and
principal employer of the construction site to provide social security to their
workers in terms of Labour insurance, first aid facilities, restroom, drinking
water availability, accidental benefits, canteens and pensions etc. But most of
the construction workers are far away from all these facilities.

d. Contractor workers are less paid in comparison to workers of the same

skillset employed in factories. At most of the construction sites, the labour is
supplied by the labour contractor on a commission basis ignoring compliance
obligations. Construction workers employed in most of the sites are not paid
any overtime payment. Thus, the problem of low wages is unsolved and
significant in the construction industry.
e. Poor Conditions of Migrant labour
The percentage of Migrant people in a construction project is always high.
They receive comparatively less payment than local workers and must work in
high-risk posing areas due to having no safety as well as social awareness. Even
sometimes no accommodations and basic amenities are provided to them due
to the temporary nature of the job.
f. Problems for female construction workers: Female Construction workers
face multiple problems due to their feminine status and are always in danger
of physical and financial exploitation by their male co-workers. There is gender
discrimination at construction sites. They are paid relatively less than a male
worker and no availability of basic facilities/benefits/amenities for female
workers at construction sites ruins their social respect and legal rights. The
health and safety of female workers are deteriorated due to their working in
life-threatening and unhygienic work environments at Construction sites.

g. Bonded Labour and Child labour

Bonded labour can be defined as a social agreement between a debtor and
creditor under which the debtor agrees to render labour or personal services
to the creditor without remuneration instead of the satisfaction of the debt or
part of the debt on interest on the principal amount for a specific period or till
the debt is satisfied or repaid.

ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS

The working conditions of construction workers in Bangalore were examined
using a survey. This survey's primary goal was to learn more about
construction workers—their issues, challenges, and benefits. 10 people were
questioned for the survey, which was based on a questionnaire, at several
building sites in Shanti Nagar.
REFERENCES
D Rajasekhar Suchitra J Y, Employment security for the unorganised sector
workers in Karnataka (2006), http://www.isec.ac.in/WP%20-%20169.pdf (last
visited Feb 13, 2023).
Subhomay Saha, Shrabani Saha, India's migrant construction workers: An
analysis of their welfare framework Down To Earth (2021),
https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/governance/india-s-migrant-
construction-workers-an-analysis-of-their-welfare-framework-79551 (last
visited Feb 13, 2023).
Migration of labour - kmea.karnataka.gov.in, ,
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THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS OF MIGRANT CONSTRUCTION WORKERS IN
BANGALORE AND INTERVENTION PLAN TO IMPROVE LIVELIHOODS, Annual
Report - sampark.org THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS OF MIGRANT
CONSTRUCTION WORKERS IN BANGALORE AND INTERVENTION PLAN TO
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