Enabling and Empowering the Urban Unskilled
Enabling and Empowering the Urban Unskilled
Authors : Gayathri Vasudevan, Kirti Vardhana and Jyothi S. Rao
The construction industry has been booming in the Bangalore metropolis for nearly a decade now.To cater to this demand, construction workers come into Bangalore from all over the country to seek employment. No matter what their skill level, the sheer demand for numbers ensures that everybody gets a job at different construction sites. However it has been observed in many cases that safety is a low priority on many of these constructions sites. Loss of life and limb are often taken lightly. Workers are unaware of how and when to use safety/ protective equipment and often do not take the right precautions necessary for a safe work environment. A large section of the construction worker community in Bangalore comes from the impoverished districts of Raichur, Koppal and Yadgir of Karnataka. But there are also a number of immigrant workers who come from all over the country including the states of Bihar, Orissa etc.
The demographic of the construction workers is largely the urban poor and a migratory population that is straddling an unviable agricultural background and an unpleasant but marginally more monetarily rewarding urban life. Stakeholders in this are mostly the workers whose very livelihood and future is at stake and their employers (builders/ contractors) who are required to insure the workers and indemnify them in case of loss due to accidents. However, most workers are unaware of the law and the provisions that could benefit them.
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