The Premise

The original concept of TARAgram has been to work with all the different artisan groups in the region in reviving skills which are slowly becoming extinct. Masons were the first major group identified in the region as the influencers and decision makers in the rural building sector, the engineers and architects in villages. But with the passage of time, their own respect for their profession is becoming non-existent as they are slowly getting influenced and dominated by other actors in the Building Construction network - Petty Contractors, Material Suppliers etc. In the process of earning more, the trade has taken a business mode where quality of skills and the work is not a prime consideration. Simultaneously, it has also been realised that since there is no formal training for the masons in our country, they are not aware of certain construction practices and their level of quality consciousness depends solely on the way they have acquired their skills - hereditary or from a master.

One of the strategies adopted by TARAgram is to institutionalise this artisan group and initiate a learning process for them so that they formally learn the intricacies of the skills related to their trade, attain a status of respect in the society while working with their own hands and adding to their skills.

The Concept

In the ancient times, artisans used to exist in guilds, which had their own set of rules and regulations for the way they worked. They functioned together as a group and their identity was of the overall strengthened group which they projected in the society. Their code of practice had values and ethics. There was a distinct hierarchy in the guild but at the same time people were responsible to each other. There were masters and apprentices, people with specific skills in specific fields attaining their own positions. There is a mention in history of sculptors', painters’, carpenters’ and craftsmen's guilds. In countries of Europe, there are still such guilds in existence. In our society, these guilds disintegrated due to changing economic conditions. TARAgram is now working on bringing the masons together into self-dependent groups with their set of ethics. Guild is a concept - and TARAgram’s efforts are towards a process which shall turn this into a reality.

The Process

The story of masons began with the conceptualisation of TARAgram. The region has masons working on the conventional technologies who take time to relate with the new materials in the building centre. Therefore, while the foundations of the Paper Unit at TARAgram were being laid, a few good and interested masons got associated with the new technologies. Proper masonry principles with no compromises on quality, and relevant application of tools - all these were the 

new standards which the masons put into use. The opportunities of growth were visible for the masons who wanted to learn. These aspects were never stressed upon in their earlier work place in the rural context. Masons with an eye for quality and a desire to learn continued at TARAgram while the others fell out. It was also observed that intelligent masons need to get convinced by anything new before taking it up completely and exploring it creatively. They would not do things just because they were told to do so.

This initial learning and familiarity with the material was followed by the Azadpura Rural Housing Program. Under the District Rural Development Authority (DRDA) scheme of Indira Awas Yojana, 49 houses and 44 toilets were constructed with the Sahariya tribals in a settlement called Azadpura, three kms from TARAgram towards Orchha. Here, the masons took over the complete charge of working with the tribals and designing their spaces with these new materials. The entire construction process was an eye opener where the masons were given the responsibility to manage their work, material movement, quality and cost-control, thus understanding the underlying crucial factors in any given construction site. They also learnt to be efficient and completed the 49 houses within a span of 6 months. Simultaneously, they also started concentrating on team building; the realisation that their own efficiency is related to their team’s dawned upon them and their helpers were gradually trained in masonry work and the masons started taking newer responsibility. The whole aspect of teaching others brought a certain level of consciousness in the mason and he started becoming more critical about his own work, ushering a new level of modesty in him.

With this experience, one of the masons stepped in and helped other masons to get united and work together on an external project. This mason group was also realising the importance of acquiring new skills and so , dome and vault construction was introduced to the entire team. They were informally united into a group - the Vikas Samiti - which comprised of a master mason, one mason and few semi-masons and helpers. Slowly, a trainer mason also joined in and this team started working on projects independently. Exposure to intensive training sessions has given the masons a certain level of perfection to strive for and the confidence in innovative materials like Compressed Earth Blocks and Ferro-Cement Channels. This group also realised that with the kind of projects they do, they need to have an in-house team of people producing the materials for them and so, producer guilds for Compressed Earth blocks, Micro Concrete Roofing tiles production came into being.

A few masons have slipped out of the system - they probably were not ready for the experiment. But while the former group is struggling to grow, efforts are on to bring in more masons from other districts. The effort has to spread, restricting it to one group is not enough. Therefore, a village to village survey was conducted by the TARAgram team and nearly 600 masons were identified in some 45 odd villages. A one day exposure program was organised in the block development office to introduce these masons to TARAgram technologies. Interested masons were then invited to TARAgram for three day orientation sessions. Masons selected through these orientation sessions are now going to be provided an intensive 3 month training, where complete know-how about appropriate technologies shall be given to them. Simultaneously, they shall be formed into groups and provided training - a foundation training helping to form them into future guilds.

Training has been identified as the primary tool to communicate with the mason groups and therefore efforts are on to identify potential trainers from amongst this mason group who would slowly help train masons in large numbers. A training module is underway which would provide a base to identify what is it that the masons need to learn academically and practically to enhance their skills more effectively. A complete understanding of traditional Bundelkhand Architecture and prevailing traditional technologies, with orientation to different types of new materials, is also a part of the module. At the same time, they have to acquire the confidence to be completely independent and not be exploited.

While the process continues, there are definite learnings. It becomes very difficult to restrain the trained people within the group. Once they acquire some kind of skill, there is this tendency of becoming confident and attempt to earn more independently. While it helps in promotion, the danger of perpetuating a half-learnt technology has its own adverse effects.

Inter-group dynamics in the Samiti is one other important factor. While the group expands, the friction amongst the existing masons becomes a sensitive issue to handle. Optimism and healthy group behaviour are important factors in the efficient working of teams.

With the increasing pace of work at TARAgram, the quality standards maintained initially are tending to slip, as the supervision can not be kept as intense as it used to be. While learning new technologies, the masons tend to forget the basics and therefore trainings, concentrating on revising the basics, have been initiated.

At the same time, it is becoming difficult to attract the attention of larger number of new masons. The importance of quality, skills and professional growth is difficult to convey in a short time and therefore effective strategies have to be planned to bring them together and form them into groups.

With learnings adding on every day, efforts are on to integrate them so that one doesn’t repeat mistakes. The Vikas Samiti is becoming a pilot example for the entire TARAgram to look upto because of the initiative taken by the masons to be responsible to themselves. Vikas Samiti is a beginning and more such groups have to be formed so that large number of masons get integrated into this concept. The codes of conduct for these quasi-guilds have to be revised and new standards set, so that they can set an example to the entire mason population in the region, spearheading a sustainable delivery process initiated by TARAgram in its vision of working with down-to-earth solutions. . . q