Project and Disaster

Management
Homework assignment No 02:
Construction Industry Statistics and Facts in India

By:
Somsankar Mondal
Amulya Burdanur Pramesh
Raheef Rasheed Aowal
Adeeswaran Kalaiselvan

1.0 Statistics of Construction Industry workforce in India

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According to Doloi, Iyer and Rentala construction industry has generated 31.46 million jobs (20082009) and has the potential to add another 2.5 million jobs in near future.
The Indian construction industry comprising infrastructure and real estate sectors employs over 26
million casual workers and is the countrys second largest employer after agriculture. The Planning
Commission of India has projected that the construction sector will require another 47 million people
in the workforce over the next decade (FICCI 2010:13). Despite such significance to the Indian
economy, there is no specific policy for skill building in the construction sector. The current pool of
the construction workforce in India comprises mainly unskilled workers.
The below table showing the construction industry workforce divided into different category.

About 10% of the skilled worker of above figures, migrated to overseas each year for higher
remuneration. Around 20 million of labour migrated from India to other country worldwide.

Below table showing incremental requirement for key Skills in construction sector in
India by 2022.

Source: Report on Human Resource and Skill Building Requirements in the Building, Construction
and Real Estate Services, National Skill Development Corporation.

2.0 Definition of Unskilled, Semi-skilled, Skilled & Highly Skilled Workers

(i) Unskilled:
An unskilled employee is one who does operations that involve the performance of simple duties,
which require the experience of little of no independent judgment or previous experience although
familiarity with the occupational environment is necessary. His work may thus require in addition to
physical exertion familiarity with variety of articles or goods.

(ii) Semi-skilled:
A semiskilled worker is one who does work generally of defined routine nature wherein the major
requirement is not so much of the judgment, skill and but for proper discharge of duties assigned to
him or relatively narrow job and where important decisions made by others. His work is thus limited
to the performance of routine operations of limited scope.

(iii) Skilled:
A skilled employee is one who is capable of working efficiently of exercising considerable
independent judgement and of discharging his duties with responsibility. He must posses a thorough
and comprehensive knowledge of the trade, craft or industry in which he is employed.

(iv) Highly Skilled:

A highly skilled worker is one who is capable of working efficiently and supervises efficiently the
work of skilled employees.

3.0 The social position of construction workers in India:

Areas

Age

Education

Earning

Employment aspects

Labour Laws

Migration Trends

Challenges

Statistics and explanations

The minimum age for joining the industry is estimated to be roughly
between 20-24 years.
The maximum age for retirement is usually 60 years. Companies do not
hire usually people above 50. Those who are performing only advisory
duty they can be employed even upto 70 years.
The minimum age for vocational training is 14 years.
The participants must be 10th passed to be eligible for vocational
training.
No education qualification is specified as such for workers for joining
the construction sector.
Avg. earning for skilled/unskilled labour for regular time is 45
USD/month
Avg. earning for skilled/unskilled labour for extra time is twice the
normal rate.
The most common method of employment is mass transport of work
force from states with minimal wages for labour. This is usually
achieved through middlemen who get their share in the cut from the
companies who are in need of labour.
The labourers are divided into three categories: unskilled, skilled and
specialized. The majority of the labourers here are unskilled and help
in masonry work. The skilled labourers are masons and have higher
status in this hierarchy. The specialized labourers are the ones doing
tasks such as flooring, road construction and marble work for
beautification. The task is also different for different sites; common jobs
include breaking down old houses, small renovation projects, and
building new houses.
The average working hours per day is 9 hours with 30 minutes rest per 5
hours
There are no laws which prohibit firing of construction workers.
There have been several violations of the Minimum Wages Act but
lesser in the construction sector as mostly the wages are on a daily basis
and is fixed before taking up the work.
The labour recruitment system on big worksites is so tight that once you
leave the site, it is very difficult to get work again independently. Many
of the labourers switch from construction work to other jobs like pulling
rickshaws, such as selling wares on the road or working at phone
booths, repair shops or small restaurants.
During phases when there are no construction projects in an area most
workers resort to agriculture. Industries require professional skill which
is not abundant among them.
In India a large group of unskilled labours works in the rural area as
agriculture labourer as soon as the season ends, they shift to the
construction industry which increases their employment level in the
industry by doing so they generate income, for meeting their house hold
expenditure.

The workers face medical hazards. Inadequate safety equipments. They

were susceptible to many water borne and respiratory diseases. The
sanitation and hygiene of the construction site and the temporary shed
are very poor. Limited provision of drinking water and the labourers
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have to depend on bore well, tanker lorry water and public water supply.
The wage structure of the construction labour is also found inadequate
considering their labour. The labourers do not get healthy food from the
construction site.