Structural Engineers and Rural Poverty

POVERTY ALLEVIATION? Isn’t that extraneous for us – the structural engineers? Even though definitely not, but it is probably imperative to provide an overview of the domain (poverty alleviation) to facilitate enunciation of the quantum of opportunities, WE, the entire Structural Engineering fraternity, have in this regard.
However at the onset it must be emphasized that we must inculcate the truth that we are undeniably obligated to contribute to the process of alleviating poverty from our society. Only then it will be possible to slough off the insouciant approach that we are generally accustomed to, in dealing with such apparently extraneous agenda, while fulfilling the scheduled obligations of our professional roster. Further, the imbalance, with opulence in a section of the society overwhelmingly surpassing the dire lack of basic amenities to a vast section of the society, is so colossal that apart from the humanitarian angle, the issue demands immediate attention from all and sundry to ensure economic prosperity and an ensconced status to all of us.
WHAT EMPHASIZES THE ROLE OF STRUCTURAL ENGINEERS? To address this let us first try to define poverty. Poverty is not only about the lack of wealth in monetary terms, it also implies the denial of various choices and opportunities rudimentary to human development. These include the ability to lead a long, creative and healthy life, to acquire knowledge, to have freedom, dignity, self-respect and respect for others, and to have access to the resources needed for a decent standard of living. Now, even though these aspects are being addressed, but statistics are readily available which substantiates that much remains to be attended to. The Economist6 has observed that over the past 50 years rich nations have given US$1 trillion in aid to poor ones. This stupendous sum, however, has failed spectacularly to address the intended beneficiaries. This therefore highlights that poverty is not being ignored, but alleviation strategies must be more effective in building a stable, sustainable, cohesive community infrastructure for relief to be achieved. This necessarily calls for a more committed involvement of the engineering fraternity, with the Structural Engineers playing a crucial role therein.
THE DOMAIN FOR STRUCTURAL ENGINEERS – Undisputedly, though engineering solutions are integral to mitigating poverty, it is not the sole contributor to success of poverty alleviation programs, which also entails condign attention to social, economic and political agendas pertinent to the issue. However, the onus is on the engineering fraternity to provide sustainable engineering & optimal solutions, which, if not addressed, would leave the environment depleted and society poorer over time. The structural engineers, as they strive to contribute to the poverty alleviation programs, should therefore pioneer engendering the aspects (a) Appropriate and sound engineering, (b) Empowerment engineering and (c) Life-cycle engineering.
APPROPRIATE AND SOUND ENGINEERING – Structural Engineering Perspective. Probably the first consideration should be a change in mindset for adopting techniques of labour-based construction instead of labour-intensive construction. The latter basically substitutes men for machines e.g. constructing a concrete framed building where the concrete is mixed by hand and not using mechanical mixer. Labour-based construction, by contrast, aims to change the technology involved to what is appropriate for manual labour, e.g. eliminating the concrete frame and building the structure of load-bearing masonry.
Such shift in the approach has many distinct advantages and the overriding ones being (a) a reduced cost, (b) easy transfer of technology to the poorer sections thereby ensuring a sustainable contribution. In fact this is a step towards demystifying technology, a truth that has now been accepted as a major task to overcome impediments hindering achieving the targeted denouements. The present day market dynamics, in most developing countries like India, tends to be dictated by some detrimental nexus say, that between the architect, builder and building material supplier, creating a vicious ambience throttling achievement of the desired results. Therefore Structural Engineers need to play a critical role to innovate such technologies that ensure cost-effective alternatives to sustain despite stiff resistance by market dynamics and also have a direct role in providing economic independence to the poorer section of the society.  To be more explicit on the last aspect, it needs to be stressed that in the context of poverty alleviation Structural Engineers’ efforts should be to generate a rather Spartan technology than a so-called cutting-edge technology by resorting to using materials that are locally available, energy and environment friendly and easy for the rural community to imbibe into its fold, thereby instilling a sense of ownership which is primordial to attainment of a sustainable technology. 
A pro-active role of the Structural Engineers is the need of the hour to augment indigenous technologies that are already in place. In fact, the emphasis has to be on evolving means enabling proliferation of these technologies from the rather small-scale of today to a large-scale application. A few examples are given next.
•          Use of FLYASH as building materials like bricks, Portland pozzolana cement, light weight aggregates, hollow blocks etc.;
•          Use of Phosphogypsum – a byproduct of the phosphoric acid based fertilizer industry for making building materials;
•          Red Mud Jute Fibre Polymer Composite (RFPC) for use as high quality exposable bricks, tiles, corrugated roofing sheets etc.;
•          Use of recycled plastic products in construction;
•          Technology for low cost Coconut Shell House etc.
However there are no reasons to think that the role of structural engineers is restricted to the domain of low-cost and sustainable habitation. Their active assistance is required in developing appropriate sanitation system for the poor. Innovations by the structural engineers are warranted in decreasing the demerits of the ‘on-plot’ systems that which generally is the best option in rural perspective. In fact, it is quite apparent from the above that the Structural Engineers are supposed to play a critical role in allowing application of or restraining otherwise polluting materials and thereby pinion the propagation of pollutants to crucial water reserves.
Impact on water reserves, mentioned above, is also an area that looks up to the Structural Engineers for valuable assistance. Statistics have shown that around sixty percent of irrigation water does not reach the fields due to seepage, evaporation and percolation. Water Resource engineers, in co-operation with the Structural Engineers are therefore required to come out with feasible & sustainable technology to improve the technical efficiency (field efficiency x conveyance efficiency) in this regard. In fact, the Blue Revolution, coined and mooted by Dr. Kofi Annan as he commented on the 2001 report of the World Water Council2, emphasizes on the role of engineering fraternity in transforming the institutions responsible by changes in water conveyance and use-efficiency, cost-effectiveness, transfer and/or storage, in order to surpass the achievements of the Green Revolution (that stressed on transforming germplasm – employing basic science, that of Darwin and Mendel) in doubling or tripling crop yield.
EMPOWERMENT ENGINEERING – Structural Engineering PerspectiveThere are enough innuendos, in the last section, addressing the empowerment objectives of the efforts of the structural engineers in the context of rural poverty alleviation. The demystification of technology3, mentioned earlier, will be translated into a reality not only if raw resources inherent to the locality are given a chance but also if proper initiatives are undertaken to accommodate local professional & technical staff, skilled & unskilled manpower in the construction process, and also to develop a comprehensive framework that will allow the knowhow to permeate through the rural society. Properly conducted job training, formulated and assisted by experienced engineers, is key to this endeavour.
Generating alternative employment opportunities, as mentioned above, plays a very important role in poverty alleviation. This is so, because it reduces the stress on the farming sector. With insufficient space to accommodate the rural demands, farming and marketing farming products fail to provide enough to ensure a decent income for the rural community. Also such parallel employment generation, aided and abetted by the indigenous technology innovated by engineers, will cut down the exodus, people gravitating to cities for employment prospects, very often frequented by the rural society. Therefore the Structural Engineers are bestowed with the important tasks of resuscitating indigenous technologies, which not only will easily be absorbed by the rural workforce but also help retaining the rural workforce, vital to rural poverty alleviation.
The other important aspect in regard to empowerment is that the Structural Engineers should be forerunners in augmenting alternate technology that provides immense impetus to development of small-scale-enterprises in the country. In fact, structural engineers in academics and research should play the dual role of inventing such technologies repeatedly and also bringing a total revolution in the role of technical institutions by focusing on moulding students for self-employment rather that for wage-employment, as is being practiced today. Emergence of such small-scale-enterprises will inevitably beset alternate employment opportunities in the rural areas and thereby help eradicating poverty from the society.
The deficiencies insinuated above find mention in the Approach Paper to the Tenth Five Year Plan of India4, wherein these are among the many other defects identified while evaluating the Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP). In fact, the Tenth Five Year Plan emphasizes vigorous participation of the engineering fraternity in Swarnajayanti Gramin Swarojgar Yojana (SGSY) that now has replaced IRDP, and also in TRYSEM, the programmes for upgrading skills. The Structural Engineers are therefore required to undertake a more conspicuous effort for making TRYSEM dovetailed with SGSY, as emphasized in the Tenth Five Year Plan of India.
LIFE-CYCLE ENGINEERING – Structural Engineering PerspectiveLife-cycle-engineering tries to take into account the aspects of operational and maintenance viability & cost, sustainability of the technologies in the rural scenario reflected in the previous sections. In fact, all-weather rural-roads is a much-discussed aspect in relation to poverty alleviation. It is appreciated that this entails building community capacity to maintain the local roads with maintenance of bridges/culverts constituting a primary aspect in this process. Therefore Structural Engineers are required to provide such technologies in their construction which enables the rural-community to provide easy routine & periodic maintenance & repair on their own without any procrastination that generally tends to aggravate the situation, often taking it beyond repair. Employing locally available materials & manpower is the key to facilitate such process.
However, perhaps the most important is the role of life-cycle-engineering in regard to disaster management. Undoubtedly the rural poor are the community that periodically & frequently faces the wrath of nature1. Therefore application of life-cycle-engineering is an integral part of disaster preparedness, an aspect that has gained mammoth significance after the recent Tsunami Disaster. Structural Engineers have a major role to play in assessment of hazard resistance of all structures, exploration of alternate techniques for upgrading of affected structures by retrofitting, etc. In fact, the role of expertise of Structural Engineers is magnified by the fact that instances are plenty of permanent structures meant for rehabilitation caving in to fresh disaster, while the temporary sheds prepared to provide short-term relief remained intact. This signifies that the need of the hour is a more focused attention by the structural engineers to judiciously include indigenous materials that often are less vulnerable than so-called better materials. Since such catastrophes often results in previous efforts to eradicate poverty come a cropper, inflicting heavy damages to facilities built with valuable aids, the success in the poverty alleviation process is therefore highly contingent on Structural Engineers’ abilities to come up with (a) damage Identification guidelines, (b) technology packages for repair, rehabilitation and retrofitting, (c) identification of priority areas for interventions in the short and medium terms etc. 
ENHANCED PROSPECTS IN AN INEVITABLE PRIVATE ENVIRONMENT
It is probably inevitable that large-scale private sector participation in rural poverty alleviation will be resorted to in the coming days.  The mounting political and social pressures will leave no option but resorting to a perestroika, a gross restructuring, facilitating induction of the services of the private sector. It is in this context, and also that of the competitive environment that is the hallmark of private domain the Structural Engineers will probably find their skill and panache tested vigorously as they are forced to innovate cost-effective technologies, panacea for rural poverty alleviation as evident from above.
CONCLUSION
Reducing poverty places a focus on people’s capabilities to avoid, or limit, their deprivation. It is in this regard that the Structural Engineers are required to play a key role in recognizing and developing the potential of the rural poor; increasing their productive capacity; reducing barriers limiting their participation in society; and their access to decision-making. To fulfill such commitment, the Structural Engineers have to contribute towards (a) innovating and resuscitating indigenous, cost-effective, sustainable technology; (b) innovating technology that abets empowerment priorities through enhancing small-scale-enterprises predominantly absorbing indigenous, hence readily available, raw materials; and (c) disaster preparedness and resurrection potential. It is felt mention is required, as a three-pronged strategy is propounded, at any point if they have sounded like a repetition it is because of the spoonerism in apprehending owing to the consonance and concomitance they share, and the cascading effects they are intended to inflict.
As evident, the opportunities are immense and it is now up to the Structural Engineers to prove not only their flair but also their commitment to the noble cause of alleviating poverty from our rural society.
However, it is certain that, as WE commit ourselves to the cause, the human civilisation will embrace US, the entire structural engineering fraternity, as one of its most precious amulets to ward off the worst evil it faces – poverty. Isn’t that going to be, for US, an accolade with no parallel?

References:
1.          Ifzal Ali & Ernesto M. Pernia, Infrastructure and Poverty Reduction – What is the Connection?, ERD Policy Brief No. 13, Asian Development Bank, January 2003
2.          Michael Lipton, Research Professor of Economics, Poverty Research Unit, Sussex University, Brighton, England - Approaches to Rural Poverty Alleviation in Developing Asia: Role of Water Resources, Unpublished Report, International Water Management Institute (IWMI), Colombo, Sri Lanka
3.          MIPAA Mission Report – Part B, Habitat Technology Group, August 2003
4.          Poverty Alleviation Programmes in Tenth Five Year Plan - Approach Paper to the Tenth Five Year Plan (2002 – 2007), Planning Commission, Government of India
5.          David Craig and Doug Porter, Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers: a new convergence, World Development, Vol. 30, No. 12, December 2002.
6.          Usaka & Gaborone, Helping the third world: How to make aid work, The Economist, 26 June 1999.