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Taking Technologies from Lab to Land and People
V Suresh
Background
With
the increasing cost of construction due to rise in input costs,
there is need for adoption of alternative and cost effective
building materials and technique of construction by which, cost of
construction can be brought down. The Research & Development bodies
in the country, namely, Central Building Research Institute,
Structural Engineering Research Centre, Regional Research
Laboratories and other State level Institutions have come up with
many innovative options which can contribute to cost reduction and
at the same time offer solutions that are durable, functional,
acceptable and yet aesthetic.
Launching of the
Building Centre Programme
One of the
constraints has been the lack of technology transfer mechanism by
which the fruits of these research efforts can be applied at field
level. The good initiative taken in Kollam district of Kerala with
the establishment of “Nirmithi Kendra” in August 1986 towards
furthering the above felt-need has been further strengthened with
the launching of a National Network of Building Centres by the
Government of India, Ministry of Urban Affairs & Employment in 1988
to have at least one building centre in each of the districts in
India.
Objectives
The major
objectives of the Building Centres are:
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technology
transfer from ‘lab’ to ‘land’; |
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skill
upgradation and training to the artisans; |
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production
of various cost effective components using local resources; |
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employment
generation through construction work using cost effective
technologies; |
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to serve as
a housing guidance, information and counselling centre. |
Programme
Agencies for Setting up of Building Centres
The Building
Centres are being established through:
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Government
agencies like District Administration, DRDA/DUDA |
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Any of the
Housing or Development agencies |
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Non-Governmental Organisations working in the field of human
settlements |
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Construction
Workers’ Co-operatives |
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Educational
Institutions dealing with Architecture, Engineering and
Construction; and |
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Professionals and Entrepreneurs |
Building Centres
in Urban Areas
So far, 482
building centres have been constituted and given administrative
approval for inclusion under the National network of Building
Centres of which about 250 building centres are fully functional.
These building
centres have so far imparted training to more than 83,000 artisans/
supervisors and executed various projects/construction works worth
over Rs. 350.00 crore.
Financial
Support to Building Centres is available from sources such as:
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Grant of the
Ministry of Urban Affairs & Employment/Govt. of India Rs. 5.00
Lakhs |
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Govt. of
Germany (KfW) grant assistance |
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NRY funds to
Building Centres |
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HUDCO soft
loan for working capital and machinery |
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HUDCO R&D
grants and |
Other sources of
funding like TRYSEM, Special Component Plan (especially Special
Central Assistant - SCA), funds under training programme of
Industries S&T departments, CSWB, DWCRA, IAY, BMTPC, CAPART, NBO,
etc.
Need for
Building Centres in Rural Areas
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a) |
With the
massive programme undertaken for rural development with the
projected plan size of Rs. 3000 crore in the Ninth Plan,
substantial amount of construction work is involved for
integrated rural development through; |
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construction
of road/drain |
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rural water
supply programme including operation/maintenance of hand pumps |
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rural
sanitation |
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rural
housing |
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construction
of community and public asset buildings like Village Offices,
Panchayat Offices, Operation Black Board School Buildings,
Primary Health Centres, Noonmeal centres, Community Centres,
Anganwadi, Balwadi, etc. |
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introduction
of non-conventional & renewable energy sources like biogas,
solar energy, wind energy, etc. |
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b) |
With the
rising cost of construction using conventional building
materials like brick, steel and cement and also the limited
resources available for the people and the scarcity of funds
within the local bodies for developmental needs, there is an
explicit need to use appropriate and cost effective building
materials and technologies using local resources, local skills
and energy with appropriate technology upgradation. The
establishment of Rural Building Centres (Grameen Nirmithi
Kendra/Nirman Kendra) at the Tehsil/Taluk/Block levels will be
the right step in this direction. |
Initiative so
far
Some of the
initiatives taken for setting up of Rural Building Centres with
grant in aid assistance from HUDCO are:
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Kerala |
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3 |
(Pathanamthitta, Iduki and Palakkad) |
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Tamilnadu |
- |
1 |
(Gandhigram) |
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Madhya Pradesh |
- |
1 |
(Basera) |
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Orissa |
- |
1 |
(Narangarh) |
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Uttar Pradesh |
- |
2 |
(Raibareily, Hathras) |
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Maharashtra |
- |
1 |
(Pune) |
Further, to serve the needs of far flung
areas, desert areas and hilly terrain, introduction of Mobile
Building Centres (Nirmithi Vahinis) to take technologies to the
doorsteps of the people have been introduced.
Programme For
Rural Centres
The Rural
Building Centres to be established at the Taluk/Tehsil Headquarters
shall serve the needs of the entire jurisdiction of one or two
contiguous Taluks. The formation of a separate Society through an
institutional set up, as in the case of Building Centres at District
level would not be necessary. These building centres shall function
under the administrative control of a Committee constituted for this
purpose. The Committee, consisting of 5 to 8 members from the
Govt., Research Institutions, Housing Agencies, NGOs, Local Banks,
Professionals, etc. representing the local areas would be sufficient
for the efficient functioning of the building centres. The above
committee shall exclusively deal with the Building Centre activity
within the Taluk including the management of Upakendras to be
set up under its jurisdiction. The District Rural Development
Agency shall make available suitable land required for setting up of
rural building centres.
GOI Grant
Assistance Proposed for Rural Building Centres
It is
anticipated that the initial financial support given by the Govt. of
India shall make these centres financially viable to commence their
activities for technology transfer, production and outletting of
products and also serve as housing guidance centres. The minimum
investment required for carrying out the above activities and
towards infrastructure facilities may be of the following order:
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i) |
Land
development, for panchayats, tubewell for water, sanitation, etc
1.00 lakh |
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ii) |
Building
construction/development 1.00 lakh |
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iii) |
Machinery -
1.00 lakh |
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iv) |
Training
programme - 1.00 lakh |
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v) |
Overheads
and establishment - 1.00 lakh |
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Total (Rs.) - 5.00 lakhs |
Even though the
in-principle approval of Govt. of India, Ministry of Rural Areas &
Employment is communicated to HUDCO, the specific flow of funds for
500 Rural Building Centres and 75 Mobile Building Centres for a
total assistance of Rs. 36.35 crore (Rs. 6.25 crore per year) in the
IX Five Year Plan is still awaited.
Rural Building
Sub-Centre - Gramin Nirmithi Upakendras
The Gramin
Nirmithi Sub-Kendra shall be a part of the rural Building Centre
under its overall management with a separate executive committee for
its day-to-day function. It could be located in the precincts of
the Village/Block Development Office where other villagers visit the
Block Development Office/Village Office regularly. The overheads of
management of these building centres thus would make available a
location within the premises of the block office/Village Office for
setting up of the building centre. An initial part of grant
assistance may be made available for construction of a demonstration
building technology centre, purchase of appropriate machinery and
equipment, setting up an information office; and on utilisation of
the same, the balance grant could be made available.
Setting up of
Mobile Building Centre (Nirmithi Vahini)
The people at
large are not aware of the various cost effective technologies and
hence are reluctant to adopt these cost effective building materials
and construction techniques in their own house building. It is,
therefore, necessary to generate more awareness among the rural
people about durability and cost effectiveness of various building
materials/construction techniques which are locally available. The
Nirmithi Vahini, a Mobile Exhibition Unit, comprising various
displays on cost effective techniques along with few samples of
building material components, machinery, etc. shall be able to give
the much needed awareness on the same. These mobile units shall
also propagate/disseminate cost effective technology linked with
people’s life style and affordability in self help housing. The
main objectives and advantages of Nirmithi Vahini are as under:
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1. |
It helps to
influence the minds, emotions and actions of rural masses
towards the concept of cost effective building technology. |
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2. |
It helps the
people to see the campaign, read it and stimulate desire as well
as aid in the dissemination of the concept. |
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3. |
It will aid
in the propagation and acceptance of the technology at all
levels of the society. |
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4. |
The cost of
setting up two Nirmithi Vahinis will be less when compared to
the cumulative cost of setting up stationary display units to
cover all the districts. |
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5. |
The posters
as well as audio/visual media can be structured to suit local
taste. |
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6. |
The Nirmithi
Vahini will have direct access to the rural people. |
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7. |
The
technical staff accompanying the Nirmithi Vahini can collect all
the details of locally available materials and skills. |
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8. |
Nirmithi
Vahini can also function as a job centre in the neighbourhood
for repairs and maintenance, installations including fittings,
fixtures in association with Taluk Rural Nirmithi Kendra. |
Conclusion
Under the
overall IX Plan, it is proposed to take up a programme for
establishment of Rural Nirmithi Kendras in at least 1/7th of the
representative Taluks of the country. With over 510 districts, 4600
Taluks and 0.50 million villages in the rural areas, it is desirable
that the rural building centres are provided with a vast programme
to cover at least one in each representative taluk with the
influence areas of contiguous surrounding taluks to take care of the
benefit of the rural building centres. The Gramin Nirmithi Sub
Kendras (Rural building Sub-Centres) and Building Centres on wheels
(Nirmithi Vahinis/Mobile Building Centres), would be initiated from
1997-98 onwards, subject to the flow of funds from Ministry of Rural
Areas and Employment, Government of India. It is proposed to have
two(2) such Mobile Centres in smaller states and four(4) such
facility for bigger states having larger number of districts.
q
The author is Chairman and Managing
Director, HUDCO.
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