The 35-member unit is called Phoenix. And the women concreting the roof of a 500 sq ft house on a sweltering summer day insist it’s more of a happy dance for them.
They agree it wasn’t a cakewalk in the beginning, but today Kollam’s Kudumbashree construction workforce has slowly and successfully made inroads into a sector still dominated by men.
“In the initial days it was difficult with long gaps in between, but now we are getting steady work. None of us find the construction work particularly hard and, in fact, we enjoy it to a great extent,” says Rameeha, as a motley group of women in the age group of 24 to 65 scurry around.
Over 250 trained
The district has over 250 women trained in construction, who are capable of handling almost all aspects of the trade.
“They were trained in two phases, 51 days in the first phase and 45 days in the second. We took them to construction sites and now these women know how to do their job from the scratch. They were even offered basic training in plumbing, electrical works, and painting,” says Kudumbashree Mission district coordinator A.G. Santhosh. According to the women, what sets apart the Kudumbashree workforce is their fair margin.
“When you look around you will find a lot of half-finished houses as the owners are unable to cough up extra money demanded by the contractors. Recently, we finished a house for ₹6.5 lakh whereas the contractors charge over ₹10.5 lakh for a similar construction.”
Their first major project came from the Kottankara panchayat where the women are currently building 30 houses, of which six have been completed.
Later, the Kollam Corporation also handed over its ambitious Alakkukuzhi rehabilitation project to Kudumbashree and now the women are busy building 20 homes at 1.5 acres at Mundakkal.
Teamwork
“All the women working in the construction unit have undergone proper training. Some are really experienced while some are new to this field, but they make a good team who take turns and share the work,” says Priyanka, Urban Infrastructure Specialist and site in-charge.
