From buildings to road, construction works in Nagaland has
no quality and are generally substandard because the laborers– almost entirely
non-local persons–are untrained and have no formal education, the chief
minister of Nagaland TR Zeliang has observed.
TR Zeliang said on Wednesday, July 29, that workers need to
ensure adherence to work specifications and quality in their construction
infrastructure. The politician observed that in Nagaland most construction
works are by non-local laborers. These section of construction labor have no
formal education, neither degrees nor diplomas, and it was the reason “why our
constructions tend to lack quality”, the minister said.
In his speech read out by parliamentary secretary Levi
Rengma, the chief minister said that contractors play a vital role in the
development process of the state and the country, in terms of infrastructure
development. He said governments may bring out good policy plans, but actual
execution of the plans has to be done by the contractors.
Parliamentary Secretary for Housing, Levi Rengma, was
attending the inauguration of a new office building of the Nagaland Government
Registered Class-1 Contractors Union in at Phezoucha, Secretariat Road, of Kohima
town on Wednesday.
Levi graced the occasion in place of Chief Minister TR
Zeliang who is now in New Delhi to pay his last respects to the former
President of India, APJ Abdul Kalam who passed away on July 27. APJ Abdul Kalam, the 'missile man' who came
to be known as 'People's President', died on Monday after he collapsed during a
lecture at the IIM in Shillong of Meghalaya, on Monday evening.
Reading out the chief minister’s speech, Rengma said that if
the quality of work was ‘shoddy, we cannot build real assets’.
The chief minister said workers need to ensure that all work
specification had been observed and quality had been maintained. Pointing out
that in Nagaland most construction works were undertaken by non local laborers
who have no formal education, except hands-on experiences, he said it was “why
our constructions tend to lack quality”.
“This is why we cannot have quality construction in
Nagaland. The condition of our roads is there for everyone to see,” he said and
made a fervent plea to the engineers and contractors to visit the work site as
frequently as possible, and supervise the works, in order to maintain quality
of the works to the maximum possible.
The politician also appealed to the engineers and
contractors to ‘try and visit worksite frequently’, and supervise work.
In his address, Levi Rengma urged the contractors of the state
to play a key role in nation-building. “The contractors belong to a classified
category, and therefore plays a very important role in the development of the
society,” he said mentioning that their (contractors) contribution towards the
GDP stands at 8-11 percent.
“Your responsibility
as a contractor is not only on construction works, but you have lots of
responsibilities even on human development aspects and also on employment
generation,” he said adding that the construction industry comes next to
Agriculture in terms of generating employment.
Stating that the market and the society is becoming more
competitive, Rengma urged the contractors to update themselves with the latest
technologies and machineries.
“We have to be prepared to face the modern machineries. So
get yourself updated and scientifically get used to all the modern
technologies,” he said.
Making his observation known that the construction industry
in the State is in a haphazard manner, he maintained that things would be take
more professionally in the near future.
He also voiced the need for the state government and the
contractors’ union to come together in order usher peace and development in the
State and build a better future for the upcoming generation.
The parliamentary secretary also urged the contractors to
play a vital role in the development process of the state and the country,
especially in the area of infrastructure development.
“The government may
bring out good plans, but the actual execution on the ground has to be done by
the contractors. If the quality of works is shoddy, we cannot build real
assets,” he said, maintaining that any infrastructure work done without proper
quality control will not result in creation of “real assets”, because they will
turn into ‘liabilities’ very soon.
Stating out his observation about the building sector, the politician
said that the supervision of construction work by engineers was ‘normally very
slack’. He maintained that they (engineers) normally leave it to junior staff,
like overseers. “Hence, the contractors have a bigger responsibility to ensure
that quality control is maintained,” he added.
The parliamentary secretary referred to developed countries
where he said high ranking engineers and contractors put on their ‘working
suits’ and personally supervise constructions at work sites.
“This way, they ensure that all the work specifications are
observed, and quality is maintained,” he said expressing his desire that the
engineers and contractors will also adopt the same practice, instead of leaving
everything at the work sites to overseers and the workers.
The issue of the existence of two parallel contractors’ unions
in Nagaland namely the Nagaland Contractors’ & Suppliers Union and the Nagaland
Government Registered Class-1 Contractors’ Union also came up during the event.
To this, he urged the two existing unions to merge “as it will be much more
convenient for the government to deal with the various problems that arise.”
Parliamentary Secretary for Agriculture Dr Benjongliba Aier
also attended the program. On the day, a book titled ‘Fifteen years of
existence of NGRC-1 CU’, was also released by the chief guest.
Local and non-local workers
The words of the policy makers elicits a recent news report
about a group of young Naga that was trained in masonry and construction for
three months in Kiruphema in the capital district as a part of skill building
program in June this year.
28 of the youths have now been absorbed in the workforce of
a local construction group, M/S Vilelie & Sons, for a month. The
construction industry in Nagaland is entirely and decidedly dominated by
non-local workers particularly Bangladeshi nationals. The training was seen as
a a small step toward having a construction industry in Nagaland one day where
Naga persons would work, manage, and man the lucrative sector.
“More youths are now equipping themselves with skills in
various sectors, enabling them to earn a livelihood,” the organizers had said
on Saturday, June 27. The department of Under Developed Areas (DUDA),
Government of Nagaland and a local group called Zynorique Initiatives ran the
training for three months.
The training on masonry and building construction was
initiated under the BADP skill development program 2014-2015 through the
Ministry of Home Affairs was organized by the department of Under Developed
Areas of the state government with Zynorique Initiatives.
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