Socio-cultural Processes and Livelihood Patterns at Tirurangadi - CDS

are prepared to spend on the work. There is a building plan already prepared which
regulates their expenditure anyway. Construction work is also a respectable ‘industrial
labor’.
We compare the growth of construction labor in the table below:
Table LXI
Panchayat
Census of 1971
Male Female total
Census of 1991
male female total
%ge
variation
Tirurangadi 61 - 61 513 1 514 742.62
Thenhippalam 62 - 31 441 11 452 629.03
Parappanangadi 108 1 109 741 15 756 593.58
Vallikkunnu 97 - 97 617 10 627 546.39
Munniyur 68 1 69 501 16 517 649.28
Nannambra 25 - 25 171 2 173 592.00
total 421 2 423 2984 55 3039 618.44
The phenomenal growth of construction labor underscores the impact of construction
activity on the economy as a whole. The growth also implies another important feature,
that while the construction laborers of old belonged to the carpenters, stonemasons and
other auxiliary workers, the new construction worker is a new category altogether, who is
becoming skilled in the process of work itself.
But can the dependence on construction labor be a sustainable livelihood pattern? The
boom on construction work in the area appears to be guided by the remittance from the
gulf, of which we will discuss later, and the loans from the banks and other funding
agencies. Establishment of the Calicut University in the area, provided the first fillip to
construction activities as a number of buildings were constructed inside and outside the
campus, in places such as Kohinoor, Chenakkal, Villunniyal, manakkulathuparamba and
Komarappadi. The growth of PSMO College, Tirurangadi Yatheem khana and the Arabic
college in Tirurangadi resulted in another spate of building activity. Now building
complexes and flats are coming up everywhere. However, further development of