Vishü Rita Krocha
Kohima | May 1
Imkong Temsu was introduced to the world of construction at an early age. As a young boy, he would accompany his village folks to construction sites and watched how they worked. It was through such keen observance that he first equipped himself with ‘cement work’, which would later come handy as he eventually took up masonry as a profession.
Hailing from Mangkolemba village under Mokokchung district, Imkong Temsu studied only up to class IX but gave up on his studies after that. “As the eldest in the family, you have to make sacrifices”, he puts across. “I started earning at the age of fifteen”, he says and prior to that, recalls being part of working groups as a student. “I mostly worked during weekends and earned from doing small manual works whenever I got the opportunity”, he states.
But over the years, he has mastered the art and has no regret foregoing his studies to venture into a profession that calls for much precision. Imkong Temsu has practically been in the field for over 10 years and has experience constructing both private houses and government buildings.
The 37-year old construction worker, who is a father to four children, is the only bread earner in the family and solely depends on construction work for livelihood. He is also able to send his children to school through this.
He currently leads a group of 7 other workers and together, they take on a varied number of projects such as tiling, plumbing, painting, etc. Taking a little break from his day’s schedule at the construction site in Bayavü, Kohima, where the group was working at the time of interview, he enlightens that, “the painting season starts from November through January.” The rest of the year, they are occupied with other forms of construction but are well able to sustain themselves and also look after their families. “Sometimes, we get a contract of 6-8 months but it generally depends on the kind of work we get”, Imkong Temsu explains.
The group is on the job by eight in the morning and works till it gets dark. Having found fulfillment in what he does, Imkong Temsu also professes that there is no other job he would rather be engaged in. ‘It is the only means of livelihood for me, but I immensely enjoy doing it”, he states with contentment.
*Year of Construction Workers (YOCW) is a joint program of the Government of Nagaland in partnership with YouthNet, Zynorique and the Department of Labour & Employment, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.
