PART – A

1. Broad Subject: Conditions of labourers in construction sites

2. Area of Specialization: Conditions of labourers in construction sites with special emphasis to

women, children and migrant workers

3. Duration: 3 weeks -20 days

4. A. Principal Investigator:

i. Name: Dr. Anita Rao

ii. Sex: Female

iii. Date of Birth:

iv. Qualification:

v. Designation:

vi. Address:

Office: Residence:

5.Faculty Guide

(i) Name: Miss. Siddhi Shaji

(ii) Sex: Female

(iii) Date of Birth:

vii. Qualification:

viii. Designation: Assistant Professor

ix. Address: Office: Residence:

5. Name of the Institution where the project will be undertaken:

(a) Department : B.A.BL(HONS)

(b) College/University : SAVEETHA SCHOOL OF LAW, SAVEETHA

UNIVERSITY

6. Whether the College/University is approved under Section 2 (f) and 12 B of the UGC Act?

Yes/No

7. Teaching and Research Experience of Principal Investigator :

(a) Teaching experience: UG ______Years

PG ______Years

(b) Research experience:

(c) Whether the project has been approved by the University for the doctoral degree ? If

so, please indicate :

i. Date of Registration :

ii. Name and designation of the supervisor approved by the University:

iii. Name of the University where registered :

(d) In case the teacher holds a doctoral degree :

a Title of the thesis :

b Year of the award of degree:

c Name of the University :

(e) Publication:

Papers Published : Accepted : Communicated :

Books Published : Accepted : Communicated :

( Please enclose the list of papers and books published and/or accepted during last five years )

PART – B

Proposed Research Work

8. PROJECT TITLE

Conditions of labourers in construction sites with special emphasis to women, children and migrant

workers

INTRODUCTION

India witnesses a sustained growth in Construction business because of rapid growth of modernization

and industrialization. Even small towns and cities are urbanized today and this has led to faster pace

development in construction sectors. The construction sector paves way for infrastructure development

including roads, railways, ports, airports, electricity, oil gas pipelines etc., economic growth by

contributing for GDP and acts as a major employment provider which concerns poverty alleviation

among the masses. According to the report of International labour organization in 2007 the construction

industry contributes the second largest employment provider after agriculture and generally a primary

one in urban areas. In India, construction workers form the country’s third largest employee base and

fall in the unorganized or informal sector. The growth in construction Industry has necessitated in the

enactment of several welfare legislations in the protection of labour forces across the country. Such

legislations aim to prevent the employers from taking unfair advantage against the labour forces,

possible exploitations of labourers, child labour and bonded labour prohibition, and providing for

payment of minimum wages, fixation of working hours, provision for basic facilities, safety measures in

avoiding accidents and other welfare measures to be taken by the employer. In the present day it has

been found that there are pervasive violations of core workplace laws in almost every construction site.

Workers are being paid less than the minimum wage and are not receiving overtime pay. They are

working round the clock without pay, and not getting meal breaks at the right time resulting various

health related problems to the workers. When injured, they are not receiving due compensation. With

ever increasing price of necessary commodities, the issue of minimum wage is a serious one. There is

discrimination in the payment of wages among men and women and this is also found between the

migrant workers and the natives. Employers are mostly hiring the day laborers and these workers are

letting their employers to violate their rights because of their status as temporary workers. This paper

aims to give an idea about the provisions of labor law that are required to be complied with in any

construction sector, more specifically associated with buildings like huge apartments and to highlight the

possible violations of labor law in these construction sites and to lay a special emphasis upon the

vulnerable groups of society such as children, women and migrant workers.

ORIGIN OF THE RESEARCH PROBLEM

The intended project has its roots from our earlier discussions with the labourers working in various

construction sites at Chennai. It was during our first visit there as an undergraduate studying labour law

at the Saveetha School of law, Saveetha University that the real working conditions of these labourers

first captured our interest. It was then that we decided to find an answer by studying the labourers

employed in the construction sites with an attempt to find out the problems faced by these labourers. We

were more particularly interested in this project when we came across women in great numbers wearing

a towel rolled into a circular hat while they carried heavy loads, worked on the construction sites,

bringing their children to their work place and disentitling them the necessary education.

REVIEW OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT IN THE SUBJECT:

The existing literature on this research work mainly revolves around the published works of Indian

authors pertaining to the subject matter, well decided cases cited in the journal, and the articles

published in the website and welfare legislations pertaining to the matter. The research is empirical and

also involves data collection from five different construction sites located in Chennai.

NATIONAL STATUS

Construction Sector-Macro Aggregates in India

Macro Variable 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11

1. GDP from Construction

(lakh crore)

2. Share of GDP (%)

3. Growth rate for GDP in

Construction (%)

2.85

8.0

10.3

3.15

8.1

10.7

3.33

8.0

5.4

3.56

7.9

7.0

3.85

7.9

8.1

Source: Handbook of Statistics, RBI 2010–11

Forecasts for the market size of construction industry for the Twelfth Five year Plan period indicate that

that the aggregate output of the industry during the period 2012–13 to 2016–2017 is likely to be 52.31

lakh crores increasing from 7.67 lakh crores in 2012–13 to 13.59 lakh crores in 2016–17 (12 th five year

plan).

Surapati Pramanik, Sourendranath Chackrabart (2013) conducted a study on “Problems of

Construction Workers in West Bengal Based on Neutrosophic Cognitive Maps” Aim of the study is

to study the problems faced by construction workers in West Bengal in order to find its solutions using

neutrosophic cognitive maps, which is the generalization of fuzzy cognitive maps which found that the

major problems faced by the construction workers are working for more number of hours, staying away

from home, bad habits, absence of social security, misunderstanding, arguments with partners, stress,

skin problems, sexual behavior & sexual health problem, and physical health problems.

INTERNATIONAL STATUS

This statistic gives a breakdown of construction industry growth rates in selected regions worldwide in

2013. In the United States, construction output increased by 4.5 percent in 2013. That year, global

construction output was estimated to be around 7.5 trillion U.S. dollars (statista).

“Baseline study of labour practices on large construction sites in the United Republic of

Tanzania” presented before International Labour Office, Geneva (2005). The main part of the research

consists of a series of case studies of labour practices in ongoing construction projects in the roads and

buildings subsectors. Eleven projects were identified for study. They are seven civil engineering works,

mostly road construction projects, located around the country and four building engineering works in the

principal city, Dar es Salaam. All of the projects are in the public sector, in so far as a government

ministry or agency is the client for the project. Ten of the 11 projects are implemented by international

contractors, although Tanzanian firms are working as subcontractors on five of them. The study

concluded that It is concluded that the legal framework on labour practices in the construction industry

is generally adequate. However, there is a serious lack of monitoring and enforcement. The government

and its agencies have been weak in monitoring labour practices on construction sites and enforcing the

laws and regulations designed to protect the workers. At the same time, workers are generally not aware

of their rights and entitlements under the law and the contract.

Karin Mathiesen, Translated by Chris Saunders (2003) conducted a study on “Work, Health and

Living Conditions for Construction Workers on Large-Scale Construction Projects” exclusively on

the situations of Denmark. Aim of the study is to explore living conditions for construction workers

employed on the large-scale developments seen in Denmark in the past twenty years or so. It aimed

especially on the establishing the impact on workers health and general welfare of the type of life

typically associated with such projects: the strenuous work, long hours and on-site housing in so-called

construction camps.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

[This study will be a significant endeavor in promoting good work environment in the workplace

between the employers and labourers of construction sites. This study is intended to underline the real

conditions of labour force in the growing construction industry. By understanding the needs of the

students and benefits of quality education, these instructors and students be assured of a competitive

advantage. Moreover, this research will provide recommendations on how to evaluate the performance

of a certain institution in accordance to human resources management.

 Moreover, this study will be helpful to the retail industry and business practitioners in training and

informing them in the area of human resources management, objectives, and strategies. It will also serve

as a future reference for researchers on the subject of human resources and corporate companies. And

importantly, this research will educate clients in deciding on whether an industry e.g. business industry

is really fulfilling its responsibility to the community or is just showing off to promote its business.]

RESEARCH QUESTION:

The stress and strain involved in working on large-scale developments exceed levels in the building and

construction sector on the whole

OBJECTIVES

To study the Socio-demographic profile of Construction workers.

To study the working conditions of women, children and migrant workers.

To find out the violations of labour law and give suggestions on the basis of the study.

METHODOLOGY

The study is an empirical research based on survey method and based on primary and secondary data.

For undergoing this research questionnaire survey and qualitative interview schedule is prepared

separately for women, children and the migrant workers to study their conditions in comparison with

other labourers.

Tools of Data Analysis: The data collected shall be analyzed with the help of various tools and

techniques to fulfil the research objectives. These include Percentage Analysis and Ranking.

RESEARCH PLAN:

DATA COLLECTION PROCESS:

Primary data is collected through empirical study and the secondary source of information is collected

for the purpose of comparative analysis with primary data.

INTENDED RESPONDENTS:

Women, children, migrant workers and other labourers working in the construction sites are the intended

respondents. This does not include the office staff, contractors, safety officer or other key managing

personnel.

RESEARCH PROCESS

The following steps were needed to achieve the objectives:

Identification of ongoing civil engineering and building projects suitable for the study;

Design and preparation of questionnaires for supervisors and workers;

Collection of information on current practices from the construction sites through interviews

with contractors, supervisors and workers;

Review of the legal and regulatory framework on each of the issues of the study. The areas of

legislation under review include labour laws, social security regulations and occupational health

and safety regulations relating to the construction industry;

Review of the construction contracts used on the projects to see what rights and obligations are

specified in contract clauses

Analysis of data collected from the field and comparison with regulatory requirements

ACTION PLAN:

The copies of the project report is intended to be placed before the Ministry of Labour and Employment,

Government of India and Chief Labour Commissioner (central).

LIMITATION OF THE STUDY:

This research is done relying mostly on primary data and secondary sources such as articles and essays

published by authors online and few on books written on the conditions of labourers in construction

sites. Though such books are referred they do not contribute to the bulk of the research and my research

is mostly confined with the online sources and primary data. The area of research is only restrained to

the labourers in construction sites more particularly, the vulnerable sections of society such as women,

children and migrant workers.

LEGISLATIONS TO BE ANALYSED:

Indian Constitution

Building & Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of

Services) Act, 1996. 

Contract Labour (Regulation & Abolition) Act, 1970

Employees Provident Fund Act, 1952

Employees State Insurance Act, 1948

Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972

The Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act, 1986

The Minimum Wages Act, 1948

The Workmen’s Compensation Act 1923

The Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act,

1979 

International Labour organization conventions:

o Convention C167 - Safety and Health in Construction Convention, 1988 (No. 167)

o Convention C029 - Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29)

o Convention C182 - Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182)

o Convention C143 - Migrant Workers (Supplementary Provisions) Convention, 1975 (No. 143)

o Convention C156 Convention concerning Equal Opportunities and Equal Treatment for

Men and Women Workers: Workers with Family Responsibilities, 1981

o Convention C131 - Minimum Wage Fixing Convention, 1970

PLAN OF WORK AND TARGETS TO BE ACHIEVED

The research project is intended to be completed within a maximum of 30 days from the date of

approval of the proposal.

TIME CONSTRAINTS: 20 days

TIME FRAME WORK:

PROCESS TIME FRAME

Preparation of questionnaires for supervisors and workers 3 days

Collection of information from the construction sites 5 days

Review of the legal and regulatory framework on each of the issues of the

study

4 days

Review of the construction contracts used on the projects 3 days

Analysis of data collected from the field – 4 days 5 days

Time limit 20 days

FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE REQUIRED

Item Estimated Expenditure

I. Books and Journals ₹ 5000

II. Equipment, if needed :

Colour Xerox, print outs, distribution of questionnaire,

ordinary xerox, bindings and stationary

₹ 4000

III. Field Work and Travel ₹ 10000

IV. Contingency ( first aid box to each construction site) ₹ 10000

Total: ₹ 29000

10. Whether the teacher has received support for the research project from the UGC under

Major, Minor, scheme of support for research or from any agency? If so, please indicate:

(i) Name of the agency from which the assistance was approved

(ii) Sanction letter No. and date under which the assistance was approved

(iii) Amount approved and utilized

(iv) Title of the project for which assistance was approved

(v) In case the project was completed, whether the work on the project has been published

(vi) If the candidate was working for the doctoral degree, whether the thesis was submitted and

accepted by the University for the award of degree.

(A summary of the report/thesis in about 1,000 words may please be attached with the application)

If the project has not been completed, please state the reasons

11. (a) Details of the project/scheme completed or ongoing with the P.I

Place visited Year Completed Total Equipment/Infrastructural facilities obtained

Started

Construction

site

31/8/2015 7/9/2015 10 Permission to visit the site and encouraged us to

visit more site by giving us OD

(on duty)

(b) Institutional and Departmental facilities available for the proposed work:

Equipment:

Other Infrastructural facilities:

9. Any other information which the investigator may like to give in support of this proposal which

may be helpful in evaluating.

To certify that:

a. The University/ College is approved under Section 2(f) and 12(B) of the UGC Act and is fit to

receive grants from the UGC.

General physical facilities, such as furniture/space etc., are available in the Department/College.

c. I/we shall abide by the rules governing the scheme in case assistance is provided to me/us from

the UGC for the above project.

d. I/we shall complete the project within the stipulated period. If I/We fail to do so and if the UGC

is not satisfied with the progress of the research project, the Commission may terminate the

project immediately and ask for the refund of the amount received by me/us.

e. The above research Project is not funded by any other agency.

Name & Signature

(a) Principal Investigator

(b) Co- Investigator

(i)

(c) Registrar/Principal

(Signature with Seal)