Page 58 - HUDCO BEST PRACTICE AWARDS

Housing, urban Poverty & infrastructure

Year 2018-19

PMAy-LifE HouSE conStruction through Women construction group

by Kudumbashree - State Poverty Eradication Mission

Kudumbashree Mission of Kerala identified construction of PMAY-LIFE houses as a potential to fulfill the desired objective of empowering women construction labourers and improving
their quality of life by generating income and livelihood. It started formation of women construction groups and also provided women workers with on-the-job training at construction sites.
Kudumbashree Mission with the help of CSR fund of HUDCO completed the training of first batch of 200 women in the year 2013. Currently around 2952 women have been trained from 477
house building teams- 60 Urban Groups and 417 Rural Groups, across 14 districts in the State.
Introduction also linked women workers to large-scale employment opportunities in public and private
sectors and facilitated the need for state and national-level policies that enabled women to
radhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) is an initiative by Government of India in which
Paffordable housing will be provided to the urban poor including slum dwellers, with a translate their training and skills into sustainable employment opportunities.
target of building 20 million affordable houses by 31 March 2022. When the implementation Background
of PMAY gained momentum, the demand for skilled labourers especially from the local onstruction industry is considered as the second largest and one of the fast growing
market rose significantly, with demand for 38 lakh skilled and 50 lakh unskilled labourers. Csectors. Many multinational companies are competing in this sector, by engaging
The Mission LIFE (Livelihood, Inclusion and Financial Empowerment) is envisaged as a themselves in large public sector and industrial projects. According to International labour
one-time programme for wiping out the problem of lack of housing in Kerala among the Organisation (ILO), construction jobs in most countries are undertaken exclusively by
poor and to develop a sustainable model for addressing the housing needs of the poorest men. The GDP contribution of construction sector accounts for 7.74% (2016-17). Though
of poor. The mission aims at improving the quality of life within the next five years by women account for a significant proportion in construction works, they are usually seen
not only providing houses and allied facilities to the landless and houseless, but also as secondary / temporary workers with seldom opportunities for training, upward mobility,
raising their living standards through skill building to enable them to take up livelihood wage guarantees, fringe benefits and social protection. They are usually integrated to the
activities.
bottom end of the industry with jobs like digging earth, mixing cement and carrying bricks.
The demand for skilled workers increased dramatically in the past few years, resulting in They are rarely found in skill trades such as masonry, carpentry, plumbing, electrical wiring
huge gap for skilled labourers. Therefore, the need emerged to improve the skills of the works. Majority of women who join as unskilled workers would continue to remain as
construction workers through systematic and organized approach. Hence, Kudumbashree unskilled workers for their life period.
Mission (KM) came up with an idea of Poverty Alleviation through women empowernment
with a challenge to improve the condition of women labourers in the construction sector.
KM as part of empowering women in self-employment, identified construction as a potential
area for meeting the desired objectives and KM carried out detailed research at an existing
women training model i.e, SEWA (Self Employed Women’s Association) Nirman, Gujarat,
to develop an appropriate mechanism to provide training and other system requirements
to increase the income and improve the quality of life of such workers. Also, tapping
the demand for skilled construction workers and professionals in the market, it started
formation of women construction groups and provided training programmes at various
levels. The main motive of the mission was to upgrade, diversify and certify the skills of
the labourer in new technologies and emerging standards in the construction industry,
providing women workers with on-the-job training at construction sites. Apart from this, it

Screening process being carried out

Situation before Kudumbashree Mission: Earlier in Kerala, the wages paid to the semiskilled
/ skilled labourers were highest compared to other states in the country, forcing migration
of workers from other states, grabbing the majority of work opportunities in this sector.
Moreover, the industry was always dominated by men and penetrating to this dominated
market is always a major concern. These poor women, even if qualified, while working
in this industry, were forced as casual labourers with limited payments. They also faced
certain challenges such as lack of required funds, modern tools, latest technology and
support of a professional body and also workers did not get regular employment and were
exploited in terms of daily wages.

Skilled women workers

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