The aftermath of Vishwakarma Puja Celebrations

It was around 9 Oclock at night when mobile phone of Charles Thompson, TechnoConstructions Project Manager at Shivani Factory project-site1 rang. It was one of the engineers
Shyam. Sir, Rabindra needs to be taken to hospital now. Can we take the site jeep? was the
message he got. Charles Thompson was at a loss. It was not even one month since the site-work
had started. Rabindra was one of the new engineers who had been recruited for the Shivani
Factory project. Among the new recruits, he had been a quiet and nice person, adjusting to site
working conditions since the day he joined duty. When Charles left the project site at around
3:00 PM, everything was fine. The puja celebrations of Lord Vishwakarma had been over.
Obtaining a rare evening off, Charles Thompson had taken his family out for a shopping
expedition to explore the nearby town, located around 30 kms from the project site.
Techno Construction Pvt. Ltd.
Techno Construction Pvt. Ltd. was a US based construction company. Attracted by the
opportunities in Indian market, it had set up operations in India, headquartered out of New Delhi,
the capital city. Though it was well known in the US market, it had decided to proceed slowly in
the Indian market and steadily created a 50-engineer strong organisation which bid for projects in
the entire north-Indian and central-Indian market.
Techno Construction was wary of jumping whole hog into the Indian market on its own without
first understanding the challenges of operating in Indian context. Therefore the bulk of initial
business came from subcontracting of projects by large firms who, due to their financial and
technical strength, could participate in mega-projects worth crores of rupees. These projects were
then sub-contracted out to different smaller contractors who actually executed the work. In such
a manner, a large project would be compartmentalised and sub-contracted to smaller contractors,
so that together the entire project would get executed. Such a move allowed Techno Construction
to get into business right away, at the same time learning the nitty-gritty of Indian construction
market.
The players in the Indian construction market ranged from the big players in the private sector
like Larsen & Toubro group, Shapoorji Pallonji & Co. Ltd., Simplex Infrastructure etc., as well
as public sector undertakings like National Buildings Construction Corporation, IRCON, Bridge
and Roof Company etc., who used to undertake large infrastructure and industrial construction
projects.

2015 XLRI Case Development Centre. Soumendra Narain Bagchi, Associate Professor, Human Resource
Management, & Rajeev Sharma, Associate Professor, Information Systems, of XLRI Xavier School of
Management, Jamshedpur, India prepared this case solely as a basis for class discussion. It is not designed to present
an illustration of either correct or incorrect handling of administration problems. Name of the organization and its
area of operation have been rendered anonymous/ changed as per request of the organization.
1
All details of the organisation, the individuals, and the project location have been rendered anonymous to maintain
confidentiality of those concerned.

Shivani Factory Project

Shivani Factory Project was large `2000 crore textile mill project undertaken by a Mumbai
based reputed Design & Engineering Consultancy Company (refereed to as ENGCONS from
now on). The entire project was given by the promoter of the textile mill to the consultancy
company as a turnkey project. In a turnkey project the entire responsibility from the setting up of
the project, including designing the technical details, obtaining the necessary approvals, till the
handover of a finished ready-to-start establishment was of the consultant. The project was
located near Daurala, a small town near Meerut.2 The project site was in the interior rural
hinterland, away from the national highway.
To complete this large project, ENGCONS had broken the entire project into following different
modules:
a.
b.
c.
d.

Site-work and infrastructure construction

HVAC (heating, ventilation and air-conditioning) works
Internal electrical works, including fire alarms and controls
External electrical works including 33 KV Switchyard, DG sets establishment and
commissioning
e. Water & waste-water treatment works
f. External road works and landscaping

Techno-Construction had been awarded the modules of a) Site-work and infrastructure

construction & f) External road-layout and landscaping. For execution of their modules, TechnoConstruction would have to work in alignment with the other agencies. In all there were five
agencies, all of them which were reporting to ENGCONS. The engineers of ENGCONS were
sole in-charge of the complete project and all execution of the modules and various sub-modules
were planned out by them so that the project progressed in a smooth and neat manner.
In a project where multiple agencies were involved, it was very easy for the project to end up in a
chaos. Luckily ENGCONS had posted a project management team of 5 experienced experts, led
by a senior over-all project manager, to guide the project. Project managers of each agency were
required to report to these 5 experts. The organisational structure is shown in figure 1.

The location of the case has been rendered anonymous and a different location used with that purpose.

Figure 1: Organisational Structure for Shivani Project

For the purpose of the project, Techno-Construction had its site-team located at site, consisting
of 10 engineers with civil engineering background. The team was headed by Charles who was
the Project Manager from Techno-Constructions side, supported by two Site Engineers Shyam
Chauhan and Dinesh Kumar, both of them were designated levelI engineers. They were
supported by six numbers level II engineers. The level-II engineers used to coordinate with the
foremen and workers who were recruited specifically for the project. The six engineers had been
newly hired from a Meerut based engineering college since the Shivani Factory Project had
landed up. In a project based organisation, it was usually a norm to be conservative on hiring as
projects were never certain and having permanent staff would lead to a financial liability. Most
small time and medium construction companies therefore used to hire once they had a certain
project in their order-book.
Reporting to site engineers, were gangs of skilled and unskilled workers. Each gang focused on
certain trade like, wood-work for shuttering, steel-workers for cutting and tying in place the
steel-reinforcement rods as per the structural drawings, welders, and so on. These gangs were
hired as per the work-schedule. If the gangs were paid for the duration of stay in a project, hence
work-scheduling had to be so done so that they would not be forced to stay idle for lack of workfront.

Figure 2: Organisational Structure for Techno-Construction Pvt. Ltd.

Charles Thompson
An experienced project engineer, Charles had earned his experience in tough construction sites in
the USA. Wanting to expand his repertoire so that he would have experience in managing
international projects, he had requested to be posted in India for a trial project. If he found
working in that country to suit him, he wanted to continue there for a couple of more projects.
This suited Techno Construction as well as it wanted a core group of its engineers to initiate and
stabilise operations in India.
Project Challenges
For Techno-Construction, the initial part of the project was most critical. Involved of project
layout, it involved translating the project-drawings on the ground. No error was permissible as
the entire layout of the project comprising of buildings, the equipments, and supporting
infrastructure like roads, storm-water drainage etc., were to be translated with pin-point
accuracy. These layouts were first carried out by the site-engineers, and then personally verified
by Charles.
After layout, the construction involving shuttering, steel-reinforcement, concreting, etc., would
start. At that time where engineers would be required on multiple fronts, from micro-scheduling
of work (within the overall project schedule), translating the construction drawings and guiding
the different gangs of skilled labourers, updating weekly progress-reports, ensuring weekly wage
payments to the gangs of workers, resource scheduling, quality control of work as per
specifications and co-ordinating with other agencies for any issues or work-related clarifications.
Site work demanded a constant vigil over the activities, as any flawed execution would imply rework, which could pull-back other activities. Most engineers had a demanding 12 hour work-day
as part of routine. Due to the stress in site work, most engineers preferred to work as designers or
shift out of engineering field into sales and marketing.
For all the agencies related to the project, the problems being faced were quite common. Most
engineers did not want to work in non-urban areas. Most of the new engineers preferred to work
in IT/ITES sector, or the KPO firms. A career in those firms was not tough to achieve, and it
implied staying in the metropolis with all its advantages and attractions. Furthermore life in a
construction site often implied a 12-14 hour working day, with activities ranging from following
up with suppliers, labourers, planning for the work to be carried out next day, liaison with local
villagers for ensuring smooth uninterrupted work, liaison with government departments,
coordinating with the project management team, frequent rounds to ensure quality of work being
carried out by the labourers, allocation of over-time in cases where work has suffered and needed
to be brought up to speed, resolving labour disputes regarding wages and overtime, ensuring
necessary documentation regarding labour insurance etc.
As compared to that new engineers often had a cushy time in IT/ITES organisations with airconditioned offices, company arranged buses, subsidised canteen food, gyms and other
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recreational facilities in offices and so on. Life in the metros also implied a social life with places
to go like the shopping malls with friends, restaurants etc., with other advantages of medical
facilities etc. The IT boom in India, starting from the late 1990s when the Y2K boom attracted
engineers by the thousands, followed by with the outsourcing boom and the shifting of different
services to Indian and other low cost countries, had drained the construction and manufacturing
industry of engineers. Non-IT engineers, from disciplines like mechanical, civil, electrical, biomedical and other fields, found it easy to get an IT-based job, provided they clear the IQ-type
screening tests of the IT/ITES firms. The new recruits would then be trained by the companies
on IT technologies.
For site based employees who stayed with their families, the challenge of providing quality
education for their children, along with nomadic life, moving from one project site to another,
often led to few engineers opting for a site posting. The scarcity of site engineers with relevant
experience had therefore led to huge increase in salaries for those who could execute projects in
a project site. Engineers who opted for a site-based career however had the satisfaction of having
a better remuneration.
Given the work-stress and the lonely conditions, most engineers, especially the newly recruited
engineers who stayed without their families in company provided accommodation took to
alcohol. Though all the agencies in the project site tried to enforce a strict discipline at site, due
to the hazards of working at site, they had little control over their engineers after office hours.
Vishwakarma Puja
In India, the Vishwakarma Puja is a day when all Hindu artisans, workers and labourers worship
Lord Vishwakarma, who is considered the architect of the Gods. He is also credited with
Sthapatya Veda, the science of mechanics and architecture. It is usually celebrated on 17
September every year. On this day, almost all engineering workshops, construction sites, and
factories pray for a prosperous future, and safe working conditions. On this day no work is
carried out and the various tools and machines are also worshipped.
The usual mode of celebration however has undergone transformation over the years. The earlier
religion fervour has seen encroachment from different source. Earlier the workers used to go
back home and spend the evening with their families or take the families out for shopping or an
eveing out. That practice has, at many a place, has been replaced by consumption of alchohol.
With the increasing consumption of alcohol on the day of Vishwakarma Puja, management of
many establishments have tried to bring the puja celebrations to an early close and ask the
workers to go back home in the hope of preventing any drinking within the establishments.
The Engineers come back to the company guest house
The celebrations of the puja along with distribution of prasad (sweets offered to God and later
consumed by those who have taken part in the prayers) got over by 2:00 pm. While the engineers
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(of the different agencies) who stayed with their families in their individual quarters went to
back, the six newly recruited engineers of Techno-Construction invited other bachelor engineers
to their guest house for a round of celebration. Even Mr. Charles was invited for a drink. He had
a single peg and excused himself by saying that he had committed to his family an evening out.
The urgent call late night
After Charles had left, the drinking had gone on till late into evening. This was accompanied by
food and refreshments. After this one of the engineers challenged others to a competition - who
could take down the most shots of neat whisky.
It seems that Rabindra had taken the competition a little too seriously and had consumed, as per
Shyam, a total of 20 shots over and above what they had earlier taken. After that he had fallen
unconscious. This happened at around 9:00 PM. Among three others, who had been competing,
two had stopped quite early while one of them had vomited out everything.
Panicking, they had called their driver and asked him to take him to a hospital in Meerut. The
driver had refused to do so unless they informed Mr. Charles. That is the reason Shyam had
called him over phone.
The Way Forward for Charles Thompson
Charles thought how best he should go about this challenge. He needed to get the situation under
control fast. Would allowing the vehicle involve Techno in an unnecessary imbroglio? One part
of his brain wanted to think of the likely courses of action assuming a worst-case scenario. He
was not even sure as to the legal ramifications involved with drinking. Involvement of a multinational company often brought an over-enthusiastic police involvement in India. He did not
know whether Rabindras parents should be involved or not. It had been just a couple of months
since he landed in India and not even a month since the start of the site-work that he had a crisis
staring at his face. Another voice inside him advised him to maintain a distance.