“Work together, grow together for the better,” says, Rajendra Kalabavi, the newly elected President of the Canara Builders Association.
Rtn. Eng. Rajendra Kalabavi was born in Mangaluru. He has completed Civil Engineering from Manipal and Masters’ from NITK. He was an executive director in Nirmiti Kendra. He has more than 33 years of working experience in the field of engineering. At present, he is the President of the Canara Builders association, which was started in the year 2000-01. Currently, it has more than 150 members from the Uttara Kannada, Dakshina Kannada, and Udupi districts. Builders and professionals related to the construction activities join the association.
Speaking to NewsKarnataka, Kalabhavi shared his dream projects and visions to transform the Canara Builders Association under his Presidentship.
How are you feeling now as President of the Canara Builders Association?
Canara Builders Association is not just an association of the builders. It’s a union of builders, sellers, and dealers of raw materials, contractors, planners, and more. It includes all professionals related to construction activity. We have more than 150 members at present. Thus, we have the opportunity to work as a team. Our aim is to “Work together, grow together for the better”. I am feeling privileged to represent all the members, and I thank all for providing the opportunity to work for them.
According to you, after the Covid pandemic what are the major challenges that have been faced by the builders’ community?
As we know the entire world has faced an economical slowdown due to the Covid pandemic. Every field was affected adversely. Construction activity also slowed down. Nowadays things are getting better. Since recently we are facing the problem of inadequate supply of stone. We are planning to deal with it by requesting concerned authorities for permits and also we are trying to go for some alternative sources.
What are the major issues faced by the association regarding labour?
During the Lockdown and even after that labour community has gone through a lot of problems. Our association has helped some of the labours by supplying food packets and provided them with financial assistance to return to their hometown. However, now we are hiring local labours. And we are also financially helping those who are willing to return to work as well as to get permits from their native states.
Do you think Budget 2021 has brought any changes in the taxation policy in relation to construction activities?
Only minor changes are made in the new budget in relation to the field of construction. As far as the construction activities concerned, we builders are only mediators. Ultimately, taxes are transferred to the customers. The changes in taxation policy can increase the cost of production. however, it will be paid by the customers. Reduction in GST can reduce the cost which might help us indirectly to get more projects.
How did your association deal with the Pro-environmental initiatives?
Our intent is to work with nature. We design our construction projects in such a way that the effect on nature is the minimum, we avoid cutting the trees and we plan wisely so as to retain nature. We prefer to build eco-friendly and green buildings as far as possible. We use eco-friendly technologies. In our green buildings, we create a separate section to collect plastics for garbage bifurcation and install solar panels.
How is the continuous rise in raw material costs affecting the builders’ community?
As I said before the increase in the price of raw materials will increase the cost of construction. We are witnessing global inflation, we cannot expect the price to be stagnant. Not only the cost of raw materials, but the cost of wages is also increasing. We cannot pay less to the labour to reduce the cost. Personally, I feel that even the labourers have the right to get enough wage to live their life comfortably. So we pay them sufficient wages without any compromise.
Does your association take care of the labour safety measures?
Our association arranges several awareness programs related to safety actions on annual basis. Fire safety workshops and demonstrations are arranged with the concerned officials to train the labour, and to meet any such emergency if it occurs.
Being president of CBA what is your dream project or how you want to transform the current system?
For me, the President is not one who dictates but one who represents all the members. Our association has successfully completed two decades. Even now the old guidelines are being followed. So I want to upgrade them. We always talk about builders, engineers, and contractors, But in reality, the skilled labour who actually do all the work in the field is neither recognized nor appreciated for their skills and talent.
So I as president want to bring them to the limelight and want to encourage them to develop their skills. I have also planned to start a “Young Achievers Award” to identify and encourage talented and innovative young engineers.
