Socially Responsible Resource Management

Project Nirman: The Way Ahead

Anamika Sinha1

Biju Varkkey2

Priyanka Dave3

Abstract

Project Nirman by SAATH, a Gujarat-based NGO, aimed at empowering and training migrated workmen as masons, carpenters and electricians as per industry requirements. The project was funded by Bosch India Foundation. Although all aspects of the pilot project were successfully tested for sustainability, continuous funding remained a challenge. The project’s protagonist wanted to upscale operations but was facing a dilemma. While exploring options for sustainability on a continuum of dependency to complete self-sufficiency, the protagonist became increasingly aware of roles and identities of each partner in such alliances. Some peripheral dilemmas like challenges in identifying a socially relevant project, upscaling the pilot project, identifying team capabilities for growth and need for value integration by different stake- holders for desired growth were noted. This case closes by questioning on how strategic alliances should be made so that the four partners — government, community, Non-government Organization and corporate — learn to coexist with mutual respect.

Keywords

Social initiative, corporate social responsibility (CSR), strategic alliance, human capital investment, NGO, sustainability, growth

Case

South Asian Journal of Business and Management Cases

7(1) 53–67 © 2018 Birla Institute of Management Technology

SAGE Publications sagepub.in/home.nav

DOI: 10.1177/2277977918759871 http://journals.sagepub.com/home/bmc

Disclaimer: This case is written for classroom discussion and is not intended to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of an administrative situation, or to represent successful or unsuccessful managerial decision-making, or endorse the views of the management.

1 Goa Institute of Management, Poriem, Sattari, Goa, India. 2 Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, Vastrapur, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. 3 Institute of Management, Nirma University, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India.

Corresponding author: Anamika Sinha, Goa Institute of Management, Poriem, Sattari, Goa, India. E-mail: [email protected]

54 South Asian Journal of Business and Management Cases 7(1)

Introduction

Growth strategy and culture management are major decisions for any leader. A leader in non-governmental organization (NGO) sector has to balance several variables for the growth of the project, such as the social context, existing capabilities, capabilities to acquire, values required for growth, balancing individual identity with expectations of stakeholders and other related managerial actions (Fowler, 1997; Hailey & James, 2004; Smillie & Hailey, 2001). We put forth the case of SAATH, a Gujarat-based NGO where the pilot phase of the Project Nirman, an adult skill development programme for migratory workers in infrastructure sector, was successfully implemented. Now the leader needed to decide the future growth trajectory. In the past, her relationship with the donors had been shaky resulting into irregular funding. For scaling up the project, the leader needed regular financial support and therefore needed to build a viable business model.

The case was developed using interviews of multiple stakeholders, reports and available documents of Project Nirman (Stoecker, 1991). All required permissions were taken before the interviews were conducted and attempts were made to keep the questioning unbiased and neutral. Further questioning to converge the initial findings was also done. A linear-analytical structure was used to document the case and to understand the phenomenon in the real-life context (Yin, 1997). The units of analyses are both the leader and the organization. Therefore, extended interviews of 40 minutes and an infield immersion to observe a training in progress were done. More than 20 interviews were conducted to get the closest picture of the organization and the leader. Participants of the training, the project leaders, trainers and the leadership team were interviewed and their views were triangulated to structure the case facts.

Project Nirman: An Introduction

Nirman in Hindi means ‘creation, formation or construction’. Project Nirman started as participatory process, conceptualized and delivered by a leading Gujarat-based NGO, SAATH. The project team included community, government and a network of NGOs providing adult skills development programmes for the financially underprivileged and economically weak for better-empowered living, thus bringing together the unskilled labour market and the infrastructure sector. Awareness programmes on government schemes, some critical market information like products for safe water and also an online forum for placement and exchange of labour services with the corporate partners were initiated, similar to other projects managed by SAATH in the areas of livelihood, health, education, governance, human rights, affordable housing and microfinance.

The vision for the project was ‘Enabling lives and livelihood’.

Leadership at Project Nirman

A three-member apex team, capable and passionate about bringing social change and which is common to all projects of SAATH comprised of Mr Rajendra Joshi (Raju Bhai), Ms Chinmayi Desai and Keren Nazareth herself. A group of consultants provided the thinking, planning and conceptualization efforts commonly for all SAATH initiatives. Besides, a small team of seven executioners, rotated within other projects of SAATH, were responsible for training, community mobilization and implementation of Project Nirman.

The apex team fundamentally believed that issues, such as child health, child rights, domestic violence, skill building and livelihood generation in regions and among population of high susceptibility

Sinha et al. 55

were best addressed through government and corporate support. Given the nature and expanse of the problems, a strategic alliance was unavoidable. The team strongly believed in public–private partnership models and had successfully delivered many projects. With a desire to utilize the compulsory budget for corporate social responsibility (CSR) as per the Section 135 of New Company Act 2013, many corporate relationships were carved. Also, many government-funded projects were implemented.

Genesis of Project Nirman: Issues in Social Sensitivity

Chinmayi, one of the key persons of the project identified that migrating workers to cities in search of work, take up the construction work. Activities like lifting bricks and cement as head load need little skills and ensure daily wages. These immigrant labours suffer many social stigmas because they lack the legal identity, and are susceptible to exploitation due to lack of education and awareness. Financial deprivation leads them to crime.

High demand for labours in construction industry leads to massive influx of unskilled1 or semi-skilled2 workers into the cities where infrastructure was developing. A parallel report also suggested that infrastructure sector was growing at 6.6 per cent (The Economic Times, 2011). An expected increased investment of USD 1 trillion in this sector mandated development of suitable blue-collar talent (India Infrastructure Report, 2012). The study by National Skills Development Corporation (NSDC) (National Skills Development Corporation, 2011) projected that the demand in the year 2022 for blue-collared workforce for construction and related activities of infrastructure will be 87.02 million. The infrastructure sectors would require 37.6 million skilled workers (including skilled and semi-skilled) and 49.42 million unskilled workforce. This demand would continue in the future. But, at present, the sector faced a serious shortage of labourers (30 per cent), according to the FICCI report (2012).

The dearth of skilled labour was also magnified by the government scheme Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA)3 which led these workers to migrate back to their native village when overburdened with cost of city living. These reverse migrations were also encouraged during political campaigns. Each state government planned different schemes to lure the workers back home. The MNREGA also was criticized for providing assured employment without really developing any skills and capabilities.

The SAATH team hypothesized that training for skill development, improving awareness of rights and providing support during transition phase of migration would improve their lifestyle in a sustainable manner. Survey through secondary sources also confirmed a need for training programme.

This was also strengthened by initial dialogues which suggested that existing government training set-ups would not be able to address these migrants as they lacked a proof of address and had no legal identity.

Project Nirman: Design

The apex team identified three target groups as masons, carpenters and electricians, to be trained in phases.

The initial mission statement was coined as: ‘To train construction workers with the aim of improving their quality, productivity of work and soft skills, resulting in higher wages and better lifestyle’.

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The Training Design

Training was designed for two months, five days a week, for 3 hours in the evening (see Annexure 1 for details). According to the project team, longer time for skill development training may lead to dropouts and less participation, as priority for these workers was to earn daily wages. Evening classes allowed them to strike a balance between earning and learning.

A room close to the slum dwellings of the workers was rented to save commuting time from their homes. Bosch India Foundation (BIF) provided the initial start-up tool kit and a T-shirt with the Bosch logo to all trainees, besides providing salaries of trainers and the project team, which was a major component of the project cost (Annexure 2).

The training module (see Annexure 3 for the detailed module plan) was designed in consultation with existing contractors in the construction industry and a few large firm representatives in infrastructure space. Based on recommendations from the target employer segment, special focus was on learning skills to build earthquake-resistant structures.4

Classroom training comprised introduction to different construction tools, mixing mortar and lay bricks, correct measurements at the construction sites and interpreting construction map to aligning construction. Inputs were given on the importance of maintaining documents, and how to calculate payment based on square foot calculations, which enabled labourers to raise correct invoices and earn rightful payments. This was complemented with field-based training at construction sites with tie-ups with some construction site owners. Modules on safety, handling and maintaining tools, different safety symbols at work and their meaning, new technology and new equipment usage were developed. Few leading construction contractors were engaged by the programme office to provide post-training assistance.

Initially, an experienced civil engineer, who was also an independent contractor conducted the sessions in local dialect and Hindi. A consultant hired by SAATH documented the classes, verbatim. The verbatim record was modified in consultation with subject matter experts and used as resource material subsequently. The module was improvised with each batch, and after the third batch, a consulting firm was hired to convert the entire module into a trainer manual and trainee workbooks. The manuals were translated into Gujarati and Hindi. As labours were untutored, all learnings were kept pictographic, engaging and activity-based to avoid boredom. The training programme evolved as a blend of basic theoretical and practical concepts. The organizers and trainers realized that trainees lose interest in theoretical classes, but experts felt that it was important that theoretical foundation be strong.

Initially, there was a perceptible resistance from the participants to attend the training programme. Due to inconsistency in attendance, it was very challenging to get even 10 participants and dropout rate was very high. To encourage labours, network NGO partners5 and existing SAATH programme staff working for other projects helped in campaign and advocacy work. Training was free for labours, with flexibility in attendance: trainees could take a break after enrolment and resume learning in subsequent batches, for the topics or modules missed. Several soft skill programmes including the importance of time, punctuality, loyalty to employer and information about different government schemes were linked with training. Benefits of other community outreach programmes of SAATH, such as the Urban Resource Center, which dealt with helping candidates register for the below poverty line6 (BPL) card, through which labourers could obtain benefits from the government, were also made available to trainees attending the course. The entire package attracted labourers. Post-training, the labourers were registered with state government’s labour and employment department.

Sinha et al. 57

Issues and Challenges Faced During Pilot Phase

A major challenge in building skill at community level was inertia in people themselves. There were no entry barriers in getting work so they felt no perquisites to enhance their skills. The job required little functional or behavioural competence and by adding safety and earthquake-resistant construction, the team attempted to make lucrative programme content, but for illiterate worker, it served little value.

Another challenge was managing the donor partner and values of SAATH. The relationship with BIF had always been precarious as there were strong cultural and value distinctions. The BIF was quality and output conscious, and valued punctuality, but Project Nirman worked with an empowered and flexible team that valued relationships, ad hocism and temporariness. The project team believed that community change cannot be output-oriented. It was a slow process and needed people’s buy-in, which took time. So, they focused on their presence whenever the community needed them, supporting other network NGOs in implementing their projects. This often compromised their core roles and created conflicts with BIF representatives.

Several donor audits failed to prove work being done as trainees and trainer were attending the Baisana7 of a local community member. An important requirement for social relationship building, but the auditor, who valued accountability and punctuality, could not validate the actual number of students attending the training and was not comfortable with the experience. The BIF therefore released funds erratically, which caused the project team members to shift to other projects where their salaries could be funded. This led to break in project cycle.

The BIF officials informed in December 2012 that although BIF intended to continue funding, they temporarily would withhold monetary support to the project. New funding would perhaps resume from May/June 2013. This posited a major challenge to Keren in terms of project sustainability and team motivation management.

The SAATH team was used to working on ‘project mode’ and with dependency on the funding. Any change would lead them to change their beliefs and working styles. The organizational structure was lean, but top heavy, making the project non-lucrative to angel and venture financiers. Team motivation was high because the work itself was rewarding. They focused on process and efforts, rather than profits and results. They prioritized relationships and collectivism over actual development and growth. This was because of the nature of work as well as organizational culture. More often than not, the team members’ salary was at least 40 per cent less than the ongoing market rate. People joined SAATH because they related to the cause. To retain them, Keren provided complete autonomy and flexibility. She capitalized on their need to extend and contribute to social causes. This was very different from the way most corporate organizations functioned. Any self-sustainable model would need an overhaul of attitude of these people.

It was difficult for people who had no exposure to community-level change initiatives that a grade 2 failed individual was not going to transform overnight. The SAATH employees were recruited for proven resilience, patience, process orientation and persistence, besides a basic level of social compas- sion. People who were committed to co-investment model, meaning community members, pay a token fee for all services offered by SAATH, thereby also empowering them more as customers than as benefi- ciaries. For the first time ever, SAATH introduced the return on social investment (ROSI) metric, for reporting to its funders. The developed matrix was used to quantify the qualitative impact surveys and analysis, providing funders with a ratio that helped them understand the utilization of funds. But in total- ity, NGOs remained a different form of organization. Since ROSI depended on case stories, well-being surveys and annual increment of earnings, the quantitative result showed in decimals. This was difficult to assimilate for MNC leaders who were not sensitized to real community-level issues.

58 South Asian Journal of Business and Management Cases 7(1)

Keren had to make choices from different models of growth available keeping the values of SAATH, her team capabilities and values, and financial requirements in mind.

Discussions

In India, biggest increase in non-agricultural employment has been in the construction sector. The scale of this unskilled or not adequately skilled labour is to the tune of 487 million workers, 94 per cent of which is unorganized, unincorporated and identified with significant issues (Sen, 2013). Some common issues such as migration, bonded labour, child labour, labour abuse, poor living conditions and so on were always present. These labourers are victimized and are open to exploitation due to asymmetrical information available to them. Poor education and awareness, lack of opportunity, no time for search of a suitable job and high exit costs associated with job change aggravated the plight of those labourers. There is no shortage of workers seeking employment at construction sites, often at very low wages than prescribed by minimum wages for masonry workers in Gujarat State (see Annexure 4).

National skill development mission has three institutions: National Council on Skill Development, National Skill Development Board and National Skill Development Corporation. The three institutions together are expected to train about 530 million people. However, in reality, in 2013–2014, only 7.6 million people were trained under government schemes (Swaniti Report, 2015). Thus, a serious effort to ensure partnership between the source of skills and their destination was invited. Aligning with the skill India campaign of NDA government, NGOs who are working with the vagaries of the migrant workers have entered into skill development programmes for the migrant workers.

Modus Operandi of Community Development in India

In this case, a modus operandi where the role of government is confined and limited as a facilitator, the task of skill development of the community is delivered by the NGO through partnership with corpo- rates. The NGO is further supported by other networked NGO partners as well.

The genesis of the organization and the cause for action were both germinated from compassionate considerations of a few individuals who felt strongly about the cause/issue and started the change inter- vention. Accordingly, resources were generated to organize people and finances to bring the required impact.

As per the amendment of Company’s Act 2013, many corporates expressed a desire to partner with the NGO and share their profit to own the social transformation process. Often the corporates try to align their corporate strategy with this cause to get a business benefit as well. In many cases, it remains a philanthrocapitalist move. In such a case, a synergy is required in this strategic alliance.

The NGOs have a grip over the grass roots level issues that corporates may find difficult to get sensi- tized to. NGOs also have a community presence, trust with community and an outreach. Corporates on the other hand provide a professional approach, expertise and financing through donations which allows NGOs to reach out to the community better (Figure 1).

Further, NGOs have very little expertise, knowledge and capability on business generation; the only driving force is their commitment and belief in the cause. The team builds, because the members funda- mentally share that value/compassion of wanting to empower the community. To attract and maintain continued relation with government, corporates and high net-worth individuals for funding is a challenge for most NGOs. Their dependence on funding partner often makes it impossible to sustain a project on a continued basis, making them vulnerable.8

Sinha et al. 59

Corporates operating from the charity and philanthropy framework (philanthrocapitalists) often do not relate to or understand the cause that they sponsor. Often, they do not even appreciate the nature of intervention and the need for process-centricity in social change projects. Culturally, the difference in this liaison is between the ‘doing culture’ and ‘feeling culture’. The relation with the NGO partner as well as the society remains transactional. Thus, a challenge here is posited on ethical investing, where socially responsible as well as sustainable investing for the cause is issued.

Impact studies that capture the community development and empowerment with the investment help in establishing this trust. However, an accurate ROSI is difficult to establish. Sometimes funders feel that the project being funded is not yielding the expected output. Differences in pace or in analysis of a situ- ation often lead to building of a non-trusting relationship. Hence, funders refuse funding after some time. This poses a threat to the sustainability of the project. A spiro-dynamics is triggered as a result, which impacts the morale and commitment of the workforce and, finally, of the community.

NGO’s experience of dependence on corporates for financial needs often confounds NGOs about their identity and challenges them to explore business models for self-sufficiency. This may lead to loss of identity and creation of a new identity which needs team alignment and capability building in the team. According to Fowler (2000), NGOs are essentially in the space of civic innovations and focus on how and for whom society works. Such a caring nature is often inadequate when looking for potential to build a profitable venture.

The NGOs scuffle for their deserved space in professional profitable venture circles and have to change this identity. In the case however, Keren wants to investigate clubbing of the two identities and creating a merged identity of the project that is able to create a community change without compromising on the social values that define the project and at the same time make it business savvy and sustainable. Therefore, there are several options for the protagonist as displayed in Figure 2.

On the one hand, they can choose a fully sustainable model by generating crowdfund which would help in scaling up the project, and on the other end, they could continue with the donor–recipient model. Within the donor models, there could be several options of how much of dependence and autonomy can be built (see Figure 2 for possible options).

The choice of strategy and funding model would then further impact the requirement of team capa- bilities, which would have to either be bought or developed. So far, the journey of the organization can

Figure 1. Synergy Among Market, NGO and Donor Partner

Source: Compiled by the authors.

60 South Asian Journal of Business and Management Cases 7(1)

Figure 2. Options for the Project Nirman for Financial Sustainability

Source: Compiled by the authors.

Figure 3. Social Entrepreneurship: New Models for Sustainable Social Change

Source: Adapted from Nicholas A (2006), p. 12.

Sinha et al. 61

be summarized as per the figure below. Combining Figures 2 and 3, now the future course of action needs to be decided upon.

The easiest choice here is to continue with the funding partner. In such a case, there will be limited change on the team composition or their capability building. This will also not change the identity, the values that she holds very dear and the very purpose for which SAATH exists will be uncompromisable. However, discretion will need to be made on partner competencies, established identity, and level of affiliation, sensitivity to social issues, board and leadership of the donor partner. More often than not, if the cause of the CSR is linked to the value chain of the organization, the continuity of the funds would be more likely. This would lead to congruence at both internal and external levels. There is a possibility of complete immersion and inclusion. As a leader, her tact in being able to build an integrative relation- ship to begin with and then strengthening the relationship would be required. By co-opting the donor organization in activities at a transactional level, getting timely audits, educating them of differences and congruence would help alignment of values and benefits. Eventually, an intense relationship would emerge. A good CSR partnership model in accordance with Figure 4 would appear.

The other extreme on the dependence–independence model (Figure 2) could be absolute indepen- dence, where she could sell off the successful pilot and find a new project to pilot. A business entrepre- neur wanting to work on volumes with low margins would use his business and organization skills to take it further. In between could be several considerations of the mixed model, where a funder could chose to fund the research and development and pilot, and then a temping agency could emerge. In such a case, operational cost could remain on a self-sustainable basis. A mobile app that registers the infra- structure companies and contractors and labourers could register on it for a charge. The SAATH could promise minimum guaranteed work days, of say 15 days, against that membership. A close look at project finances suggests that to run such a temp agency, with a batch of 20 masons, would need `3,600,000 annually. If SAATH had five such centres in major slums of Ahmedabad, namely Vasna, Behrampura, Fatehwadi, Meghaninagar and Odhav, they would need at least 200 trained labourers to break even in a year (see Annexure 5 for details).

The caveat of course would be to be sensitive to changing the roles of the existing team. For a profit- and-loss-based firm like this, every team member would have to be sensitive to the bottom line. Each role will get redefined as operational, core and supporting roles and team mates would have to change the locations. This could lead to power, politics and resistance. For this restructure, training and invest- ment, and active communication, team member buy-in would be required.

Journey 2014 Onwards

SAATH did experiment with starting a fully self-sufficient model for upscaling the project. As a result of this, a kind of ambidextrous firm emerged. There was a dedicated team which was constantly innovat- ing for social change and community empowerment and another team of business and technical profes- sionals who were working as a temping agency. Every labourer who joined SAATH was being given fixed income of 15 days whether or not they were gainfully employed, other days where they worked they were being paid the daily wage anyways. Several builders and large construction companies also became members; if there was more work after all members had done minimum 15 days, then equal proportionate amount of workload was further distributed among labour members. Since most of the migrated labourers moved as a family or as friends from the same village, there were no conflicts in such distribution. Labourers preferred this over the open physical labour market owing to the fact that they did

62 South Asian Journal of Business and Management Cases 7(1)

not have to haggle for wage rates, there was a certain amount of guaranteed income and employment, along with less precariousness in the labour demand. Approximately 700 labourers and 30 builders and construction companies were employed with SAATH by December 2016. Builders and construction companies were open to partnering this cause because there was assured trained labour availability and SAATH guaranteed a replacement for a no show of labour. For the builders also, a haggle-free environ- ment worked well. In such a stress-free environment, the project leader was the only common person between the team that had piloted the project and the new team that developed.

In 2016, BIF completely disowned and discontinued funding the project and Keren left SAATH owing to a major personal crisis, leaving a disillusioned team to deal with this sudden transition. The new team for business building was recruited with great difficulty and it was very difficult to integrate them

Figure 4. Complimenting Roles of NGO and CSR Partner for Synergy

Source: Compiled by author.

Sinha et al. 63

with the existing team. The first issue that emerged was about the pay parity, and the new team was given better salaries to attract managerial skills. This was perceived negatively by the existing team. By SAATH standards, a higher pay was still lower than the expectation of people who were into commercial selling of services like diploma programmes in IT at commercially viable business units. The other challenge was something which is unimaginable, the attire and style of these people was rejected by the community members and they did not listen to their advice. The business development team could not get included in the community.

In 2017, when the case writing team met the new CEO Mr Niraj Jani, he shared that the struggle for change and continuity of the project both are simultaneous. Mr Jani seemed hopeful that the transition would finally bring results. His hope and optimism were contagious to all stakeholders, including the case writers, reaffirming SAATH values of persistence, patience and perseverance. Will Mr Jani succeed? Which tactics or strategies will smoothen his path to success?

Annexure 1. Proposed Requirement for Upgraded Delivery of Project Nirman

•   Training timings 6 pm to 10 pm •   Proposed locations for training Vasna, Behrampura, Fatehwadi, Meghaninagar and Odhav (slum

areas of Ahmedabad City) •   Total training hours in one batch Two hours per day—60-day course; 120-h course duration •   Number of consultants for Nirman One director, one programme head, 15 trainers (five locations,

three courses) •   Number of funders Three •   Number of batches per year 75 batches each year

Source: As provided by the programme coordinator Mr Mahesh Patel.

Annexure 2. Project Cost of Project Nirman

SAATH

Details of Cost—Project Nirman

Particulars Amount in `

Operating Cost Cost of meeting with consultants 25,000 Fees paid to consultant for training modules 300,000 Marketing material cost 30,000 Campaign cost (advertising cost) 25,000 Cost of documentation 180,000 Instructional materials 200,000 Administration Cost Recruitment of staff 360,000 Instructor fees 864,000 Payment to admin staff of Nirman 96,000 Train-the-trainer cost 20,000 Direct Expenses Stationery 30,000

(Annexure 2 continued)

64 South Asian Journal of Business and Management Cases 7(1)

SAATH

Details of Cost—Project Nirman

Particulars Amount in ` Start-up kit 6 00,000 Training area maintenance expense 40,000 Cost of equipment used for training 60,000 Certification 12,000 Cost of training at construction site 100,000 Cost of placement of skilled labours Capital Costs—Fixed Costs Cost of equipment in training room 30,000 Cost of furniture in training room 20,000 Rent of training area 200,000 Other Expenses Exposure visit to construction sites/market 200,000 Follow-up and tracking by URC 120,000 Travel 60,000 Communication 25,000 Total Cost of Project Nirman 3,597,000

Source: As provided from the company documents. Note: 1 USD = `64.

Annexure 3. Module Plan for Project Nirman

Weeks Topics To Be Covered

1 Introduction

•   Intro to SAATH and different programmes of SAATH •   Intro to trade and brief introduction to rules and regulations •   Intro to documentation and maintenance of learning files •   Careers, future and education requirement for a mason •   Site visit

2 Introduction to Tools and Equipments

•   Introduction to tools and equipment •   Use of tools and tips sharing with hands-on practice •   Care and maintenance of tools •   Site visit and practical •   Safety rules and best practices for self, use of helmet and hand gloves

3 Introduction to Material

•   Ratios and proportions for material mixing •   Water chlorination time for safe construction •   Foundation digging, drawing, precautions and tips to keep in mind •   Site visit and practical

(Annexure 2 continued)

Sinha et al. 65

Weeks Topics To Be Covered

4 Calculations and Ratios

•   Basement preparation through Break Bed Cement Concrete •   Brick work synchronization with BBCC •   Transferring drawing layout on field using 90* lineouts (wood angles)

5 Foundation Sections and Brick Masonry and Its Types

•   Reading maps and measurement for brick masonry •   Measures for billing in cubic foot •   RCC construction and its types, reinforcements •   Footing maps, cubic foot, square foot, unitary methods •   Practical 

6 •   Plinth construction and building for ground floor •   Calculations •   Plaster types, smooth finish, single coat finish plaster, single mala plaster, double coat gutka 

tippani plaster. 7 Safety at Site Location—Personal

•   Scaffolding •   Danger marks and signage •   Netting •   Electricity safety •   Time management and work flow management •   Management of labour and supervision skills •   Material management •   Quality management •   Drawbacks and penalty on late work •   Inventory cost, price appreciation of raw material •   Water tanks and its types, estimation of space and size of tank, square and circular tanks

8 Tender Making

•   Estimation and calculation of rate •   Calculation •   Terms and conditions of tender •   Examination

Source: As provided by the company documents.

Annexure 4. Minimum Wages for Masonry Workers in Gujarat State

Category of Worker Rates of wages including

V.D.A per day (in `)

Unskilled 297.00 Semi-skilled/unskilled supervisory

328.00

Skilled/clerical 361.00 Highly skilled 393.00

Source: http://www.labour.nic.in/upload/uploadfiles/files/Divisions/ wage_cell/515e6495b3845MWcs%201.04.13%20-%20.pdf

Notes: Minimum wage rates of workers (as on 01.04.2013). 1 USD = `64.

66 South Asian Journal of Business and Management Cases 7(1)

Annexure 5. Minimum Fund and Batch Runs Requirement for a Break-even Point

Revenue (In Thousands) 297 Fix Cost

Average operating cost 328 consultant cost 25,000 361 Marketing cost 24,000

393 Campaign 20,000

Average rev 344.75 Instructional material 20,000

Billing per year 53,781 Recruitment 360,000

SP per labour 5378.1 Instructor 864,000

SP per batch 107,562 Admin 96,000

Trainer 20,000

Stationery 30,000

Maintenance 40,000

Variable Cost Equipment 60,000

Start-up 12,000 Training room raw material 30,000

Certificate 2400 Furniture 20,000

Training at site 20,000 Rent 200,000

Market visit 40,000 Travel 60,000

URC doc 24,000 Communication 25,000

Total variable cost 98,400 Total fix cost 1,894,000

BEP 206.7234

Source: As calculated by authors based on company provided information. Note: 1 USD = `64.

Notes

1. An unskilled employee is one who performs operations involving 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 a variety of articles or goods. Unskilled work gets paid lesser than semi-skilled work.

2. A semi-skilled worker is one whose work is generally of a defined routine nature, wherein the major requirement is not so much of judgment or skill but of proper discharge of duties assigned to him. It is a job that requires nar- row range of skills where important decisions are made by others. His work is thus limited to the performance of routine operations of limited scope.

3. The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) is an Indian law that aims to guarantee the ‘right to work’ and ensure livelihood security in rural areas by providing at least 100 days of guar- anteed wage employment in a financial year to every household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work. According to the MNERGA, wage employment must be provided within 15 days from the date of application. The work entitlement of ‘100 days per household per year’ may be shared between different adult members of the same household.

4. In 2001, Gujarat suffered huge losses due to an earthquake, creating awareness for earthquake-resistant struc- tures. It is a very vulnerable region, being on high seismic zones 3, 4 and 5.

5. The SAATH liaises with projects of Janvikas and Utthan, among several other local NGOs, for introducing the campaign, spreading the word and advocating the project.

Sinha et al. 67

6. As per Food Security Act, Government of India provides a below poverty line (BPL) card to households with an annual income of `150,000 per annum. The card entitles them to some free services as well as purchase of subsidized rations from government controlled ration shops.

7. A Gujarati word meaning a community gathering to express condolence during death. 8. The dependence makes the existence of NGOs precarious and subservient, and this leads to vulnerability.

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