A

Project Report
On
Absenteeism among Workers of Ambuja Cement Limited at Mines
Submitted To Himachal Pradesh University Summer Hill Shimla

In The Partial Fulfilment of the Requirement of Award

Of
Degree of Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA)
Session 2013-2014

Submitted By: -

Submitted To:-

Vivek Mahajan

Assistant Prof. Anju Bhattnagar

BBA-6th Sem.

Dept.of BBA, Govt. P.G.C.Bilaspur

Roll No. 7645

Himachal Pradesh

Table of Contents
1.
Absenteeism Among Workers Of Ambuja Cement Limited.......................1
1.Acknowledgement............................................................................................3
2.Certificate.........................................................................................................4
3.Preface..............................................................................................................5

Section- A
1.Introduction To Indian Cement Industry......................................................7
a) Raw material and
keyinput............................................................................10
b) Overview of Ambuja cement
Limited............................................................12
c) Board of directors of
ACL...............................................................................14
2.Introduction of Absenteeism.........................................................................30
a) Causes of
Absenteeism.................................................................................
.31
b) Types of
Absenteeism.................................................................................
...33
3.Research Methodology..................................................................................35
a) Data
sources.........................................................................................
.........36
b) Research Approach, Research instrument,
sam...........................................37
2

Section- B
1.Data Analysis And Interpretation................................................................39
2.Conclusion......................................................................................................60
Questionnaire........................................................................................................
Bibliography..........................................................................................................

Acknowledgement
I would not have achieved success in my project without the help of various
people. I would like to thank all those who supported me and guided me all the
way for completion of my project.
I extend a wholehearted thank to Mr.S.S.Sodhi & Mr. Dayanand

Sharma without whom my training would not have been complete .I would
like to thanks my project guide Prof. Anju Bhattnagar for guiding me in
the completion of my project report. I would also like to thank all the employees
of Personnel Department for helping me for successfully completing on the job
training.
I extend my profound gratitude to the staff of Management Dept. Of the Govt.
Post Graduate College Bilaspur (HP) for their co-operation in providing the
required information for the completion of project.
Last but not least, great thanks to my parents without whom nothing was
possible and also thanks to respondents who rendered their precious time and
helped me in filling the questionnaire, which made my project more appealing
and attractive.

VIVEK MAHAJAN

Certificate
This is to be certified that project entitled Absenteeism Among Employees of
the Ambuja Cement Ltd at Mines is a bonafied record work done by the
Vivek Mahajan during on the job training submitted to the H.P.U shimla in
partial fulfillment of the award of the degree of the B.B.A and that the project
work has not been previously formed the basis of the award of any degree. The
project work represents independent and original work on the part of candidate
under my guidance.
Sig. of the candidate

Name & Sig. of the Guide

Sig. Coordinator of B.B.A.

Date:
Place:

Preface
Management ideas without any action mean nothing. That is why practical experience is vital
for any management student. Theoretical studies in the classroom are not sufficient to
understand the functioning climate and real problems coming in the way of management of
Men, Material, Machine and Money.So practical exposures are indispensable to such courses.
Thus practical experiences are as a supplement to the classroom studies.It offers an exposure
to real practical of management studies in various organisations.
This project report deals with Absenteeism among Workers of Ambuja at Mines. It was my
fortune to do this. I learnt a lot of new things which could never been learnt from theory
classes. This research project is presentation of my summer training.
In the first phase of research project, there is introduction of Indian Cement Industry,
company profile of Ambuja is given. After that there is description about cement
manufacturing process. After the process the research was performed with a sample size of 60
people. The research was limited to workers of mines of Ambuja. I have contacted the
workers through personal interviews with the help of questionnaires.
The main objective of research study was to find out the rate of absenteeism. In the last
phase of the research project findings, suggestion and conclusion has been drawn.

Section- A
Introduction
To
Indian Cement
Industry

Introduction to Indian Cement Industry

Cement is fine mixture of calcium silicates and aluminates which sets to form a
unit mass when treated with water. Joseph Aspdin of England first patented the
manufacture of a very improved type of cementatious material for building
construction in 1824 and named it Portland Cement because of its
resemblance to the famous rock available in the place called Portland in
England.For the constructional purpose the meaning of term cement, is
restricted to the bonding material used with stones, sand brick building, blocks
etc.
India is today second largest producer of cement (first being China) in the world
with an installed capacity close to 155 million tonnes per year. 95% is
consumed domestically and 5% is exported. Demand is growing at a rate more
than 10% per annum. More than 90% of production comes from large cement
plants.There are a total of 130 large and more than 350 small cement
manufacturing units in the country.
The forms of cement produced:
Ordinary Portland Cement-It Is a Controlled Blend Of Calcium Silicate,
Aluminates and Ferrate.
Portland Slag Cement-It Is a Mixuture of Portland cements Clinker and Slag
in Widely Varying Proportions.
Major players in Indian Cement Sector are:

Heidelberg
Lafarge
Italcementi
Holcim
Ambuja Cement Limited
ACC
Ultratech Cement
Indian Cements
Century Cements
8

 Jaypee Group
Madras Cements
Dalima Cements

The cement industry has continued its growth trajectory over the past seven
years. Domestic cement demand growth has surpassed the economic growth
rate of country for the last couple of years. Over the past five years (FY-03-07),
cement demand has grown at a CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of
8.37% higher than the CAGR of supply of 4.84%. Demand for cement in the
country is expected to continue its buoyant ride on the back of robust economic
growth and infrastructure developement in the country.
Demand for cement is linked to the economic activity in the country. The
cement demand in emerging economies is much higher than the developed
countries where the demend has reached a plateau.In India demand for cement
wlli affected by spending on infrastructure.
Key drivers for cement demand are real estate sector; infrastructure projects and
industrial expansion projects.Among this real estate sector is key driver and
accounted almost 55% cement demand in FY07. Infrastructure projects have
accounted for 20% of the demand and industrial expansion projects have
accounted for 15% of the total demand. Other sectors has accounted for 10% of
the total cement demand in the country. The consumption pattern of cement has
been shown graphically.

During the period FY 03-07 capacity additions in the country (30.6 mn tonnes)
were at a slower rate as compared to demand growth leading to higher average
capacity utilisation rates from 81.31% in FY 03 to 93.8% in FY 07.This exerted
pressure on average prices have increased from Rs. 156 per bag in FY 03 to
Rs.216 per bag in FY 07.In December 2007, prices stood at Rs. 245-Rs. 250 per
bag.
Cement is a bulky commodity and can not be easily transported over the long
distances making it a regional market place. Each region has its own demand
and supply dynamics.
Over the past five years cost of cement has grown at a CAGR of 8.4%. To
reduce the cost of production, the industry is increasing its focus on captive
power generation.
Market share of top five players in the industry has increased from 42% in FY
02 to 56% in FY 07. In FY 07 the Holcim Group maintained its leadership
position with market share of 22.6% followed by Aditya Vikram Birla Group at
a 19.4% market share. Estimates domestic cement demand to grow at a CAGR
of approximately 10% for the next five years. As new capacities come in, we
may witness softening in prices in some regions.

10

Raw Material and Key Inputs

Limestone presents the major raw material input for the production of
cement.High quality limestone is accessible almost all over the country.For the
production of OPC(Ordinary Portland Cement), clay and gypsum serves as
additives while the production of PPC(Portland Pozzolana Cement) and PSC
requires additives that can be taken from industrial wastes such as fly ash and
blast fufnance slag respectively.Neither of these inputs currently places any
constraint in terms of availability or quality on the production of cement.Fly ash
can be recovered as a waste product from electricity generation while slag
residues from the blast furnance of steel plants.

Limestone
It is the basic raw material required for the cement production process. About
1.5 tonnes of limestone is used in the manufacturing of 1 tonne of cement.
Cement grade limestone is located only in certain areas in the country leading to
estabilishment of cement plants in clusters. Limestone is available in large
quantities in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujrat, Andhra Pradesh, Karnatka,
Tamil Nadu and some parts of Bihar.This has created a no. of pockets of
cement production called as clusters.
The Himachal unit of Ambuja C ement Ltd. satisfies its limestone requirement
from the reserves of limestone of captive mines, which is located at Kashlog at
a distance of near about 20kms. From the site of the plant.It is estimated that
this reserve will last for 50 years. The limestone is mined by the process of
surface mining.
The company has also acquired the nearby Mangoo Block for mining of
limestone to utilise the incresed production of the plant.

11

Coal
Coal is a wild card for cement industry. Coal is used as fuel in cement
manufacturing process and also used in captive power generation.
Around 25 tonnes of coal is used to make 100 tonnes of cement. Coal forms
about 20% of the total operating cost. The industry uses about 5% of the coal
produced in the country. Until recently, private ownership of coalmines was not
permitted in India and all purchases had to make from government-owned
coalmines.
Coal is abundantly available in Eastern Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Bihar, North
Andhra Pradesh and Eastern Maharastra. The coal fields are inefficient resulting
in delays in coal availability. Since the quality of coal is poor (high ash content)
and inconsistent, this leads to problems of quality control for cement plants.
Pet Coke (waste product of petroleum Industry) is gradually making its space
among the fuels used by some of cement plants mainly in Gujarat and
Rajasthan.
ACL unit at Himachal procures coal from Bihar (Eastern Coal Fields).

Transportation
Cement is highly freight intensive in nature. Every tonne of cement
manufactured involves the transportation of 1.6 tonnes of limestone, 0.25 tonnes
of coal, 0.05 tonnes of gypsum and one tonne of the finished product. Freight
accounts for about 20% of the total cost.

Power
Cement industry on an average requires 115 units of power to produce one
tonne of cement.Owing to erratic power supply, most of cement plants have
installed captivevDiesel/Thermal Power generation capacity.

12

Overview of Ambuja Cement Limited

Ambuja Cement Limited was set up in late 80s. It was set up in 1986. In the
earlier the company was known as Gujrat Ambuja Cement Limitrd.But in 2007
this was changed from GACL (Gujarat Ambuja Cement Ltd.) to ACL.This
conversion was effective from 5th April 2007. The cement industry presented an
oppurtunity of steady growth and ethical competition to promoters. In the last
decade the company has grown tenfold.
Today Ambuja is third largest cement company in India with an annual plant
capacity of 17 million tonnes including Ambuja Cement Eastern Ltd. and
revenue of Rs. 3298 crores.
Ambuja believes that its valuable assets are not cement plants. They are the
people who run the plants. This unique vision is encapsulated in the companys
home-grown philosophy of giving people in authority to set their own targets
and the freedom to achieve their goals.It is called I can.
This simple vision has created an environment where there are no limits to
excellence, no limits to efficiency and has proved to be powerful engine of
growth for the company. As a result, Ambuja is the most profitable cement
company in India and one the lowest cost producer of cement in the world.
First Plant in Record Time:
Ambuja set up first plant in the record time when it starts estabilishing its first
plant in 1986 In Gujrat at Ambujanagar. It was set in less than two years.
A Whole New Way of Transporting Cement:
In the early 90s almost all cement in India travelled by rail or road and in bags.
A mode that involves deterioration of both, the volume and quality of cement.In
1993, Ambuja cement set up a complete system of transporting bulk cement via
sea route. Making it the first company in India to introduce bulk cement by sea.
Others followed it and today almost 10% cement travels by this new route.
The facility comprise: A dedicated at the Gujrat plants, capable of berthing
40,000 DWT (Dead Weight Tonnage) vessels, three bagging terminals at
Mumbai, Surat and Sri Lanka and seven special bulk cement vessels.This
capability has enabled the Ambuja to supply fresh cement to coastal marketsdomestic and international.
13

Branding a Commodity:
Cement is a commodity, sold largely on price. Ambuja Cement was the first
company to create a brand out of cement and command a premium. The trick of
course was to provide a consistency high quality of cement, backed by excellent
service. Ambuja Cement is the top brand in Western, Northern, Central and
Eastern India.
Exports:
Ambuja Cement exports almost 17% of its production in a very competitive
international environment. For the last ten years, the Ambuja Cement Limited
remains Indias highest exporter of cement.
This has been possible for two reasons:
One, the quality of cement best matches in world.
Two, the dedicated bulk cement transportation capability of Gujrat plant.
The Environment:
From the outset, Ambuja has believed that a cement plant can not flourish at the
cost of environment. Thats why it adheres to the most rigorous international
environmental norms.
Integration with Holcim: The Holcim Group holds 47% shares in Ambuja .
The integration program with Holcim is progressing well. It is implementing
various programmes across the company, which includes building robust
business systems and processes, through the implementation of SAP (System
Application Product). SAP is a project Connect India Plus which aims at
connecting all the plants, business places across India online. It is expected to
go live by August 2008.
Future Looks Bright: The momentum of growth in the infrastructure and
housing industry is a good sign for the cement industry.The govt. has set a
growth targt of 9% for the economy during XIth plan (2007-2012).The cement
demand growth is projected at 9.5% CAGR for the XIth plan. As the Indian
economy is growing very fast, the Ambuja has decided to expand its capacity.
While there are high growth opportunities, there also lie big challenges ahead.
Bunching of new capacity in short span would lead to pressure on prices and
distribution networks in 2009.
14

KEY PEOPLE OF AMBUJA/ BOARD OF

DIRECTORS:
Suresh Neotia

Chairman Emeritus (Retired)

N.S. Sekhsaria

Chairman

Markus Akermann

Director

Paul Hugentobler

Vice Chairman

M.L. Bhakta

Director

Nasser Munjee

Director

Rajendra P Chitale

Director

Nirmalya Kumar

Director

Sailesh Haribhakti

Director

Omkar Goswami

Director

P.B. Kulkarni

Whole-Time Director

N.P. Ghuwalewala

Whole-Time Director

B.L. Taparia

Whole-Time Director & C.S.

A.L. Kapoor

Managing Director & CEO

15

Milestones:
Building a cement plant in record 13 months.
2.8 kms conveyor belt running through three hills was constructed in nine
months.
Introduced a completely new system of transporting cement in India-the bulk
cement transportation by sea.
Introduced complete blast free limestone mining by using the surface miner in
limestone mining for the first time in India.
Created water reservoirs in used up mines and raised the water table in arid
areas.
Plants have achieved lowest pollution levels- comparable with the most
strongest SWISS standards.

Awards:
ACL won awards in various areas of energy, environmental and corporate social
responsibilities
National Energy Conservation Award Ist in Cement Sector for the year 200304 from Prime Minister of GOI
Asian Institute of Management Award 2004
Asian CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) Award 2005 for Environment
Award of Excellence 2006
Best Environmental Management Practices Award in 2006 to Ropar Plant
National Award 2006-07 for Environmental Excellence
Eco Gold Star by TERI
Best Export Award by CAPEXIL

16

Himachal Unit of Ambuja Cement Limited

Ambuja Cement Limited (ACL) was estabilished at Village Suli, Darlaghat,
Tehsil Arki, and Distt. Solan, in the year 1994.The plant is located in the
beautiful Shivalic range of Great Himalayas. The plant is located 45 kms. From
Shimla and approx 2 kms. From Darlaghat. The Himachal unit of Ambuja
Cement is unique in it in the sense that it is sorrounded by lush green mountains
on both sides and has an OLBC (overland belt conveyor) of about 3 kms. From
the mining site at Kashlog to the production site, passing through tunnels carved
through mountains.It is a sheer example of the engineering marvel according to
experts as it was installed and commissioned in the time period of 22 months
inspite of difficult terrain and harsh weather conditions. It is the highest altitude
cement plant of Asia situated at 1550 meters above sea level. The plant is
equipped with Best Available Technology (BAT).
The machines of this plant are latest in technology and were supplied by M/S
Fuller KCP, USA.The cost of production at this unit is among the lowest in the
world.Along with the electricity supplied by Himachal Pradesh State Electricity
Board the plant has four diesel generators to provide electricity during peak
hours with power supply of 24MW.
The unit started its commercial production in 1995 having a rating capacity of
1.5 to 2 million tonnes per annum, now around 2.5 million tonnes per annum.
The company manufactures mainly OPC and PPC type of cements. The quality
of cement is comparable with internationally accepted Britain and American
standards. The policy of maintaining superior product quality and providing the
consumers with best of quality has gained the company a leading position in the
competition.It maintains the emission norms well below the standards laid down
by the government regulatory agencies.The pollution is controlled through
Glass Bag Houses and the Electro-Static Precipitators(ESPs).
This is the one of the most famous cement manufacturing plant of the country
and the main processes involved are grinding, storage and packing of cement.
There is one Kiln drive with three cement mills a DG Hall, Quality Laboratory
and a Central Control Room (CCR).The manufacturing facilities of the plant are
spread out over two centres. The grinding process at the plant manufactures
cement mainly for the market of the Himachal and most of the clinker produced
is transported to the Ropar sgrinding unit by trucks, which is the only medium
17

of transportation in hilly areas, to tap the requirements of the markets of Punjab

and nearby areas.The company is going to expand its capacity in Himachal. The
Ambuja is setting a production unit at Rauri and a grinding unit at Nalagarh.
The Rauri unit is supposed to be functional by the end of year 2009.
The Himachal unit of Ambuja consists of following departments:

Administration
Accounts
Automation & Control
Civil
Commercial
Costing
DG(Power Plant)
Electrical
Environment
Excise
General Management
Horticulture
Hospital
Inernal Audit
Info-Tech
Land Matters
Mechanical
Management System
Mines & Geology
OH&S
Personnel
Packing
Production
President Office
Project & Developement
Quality Control
Sales & Distribution
Store

18

Personnel Department
This department is headed by Mr.S.S.Sodhi. This department deals with the
recruitment and selection of candidates, orientation and training of candidates to
enhance their skills. This department also deals with the attendance and leave
records of employees, wages and salary distribution, performance appraisal of
employees, provident funds, issue of employee code, issue of attendance card,
contract labour management and many other matters performed by this
department.
Hierarchy of Personnel Department:
Unit Head

Sr.Vice President (Commercial)

G.M.Personnel

Manager Personnel

Assistant Manager

Personnel Officers

Assistant Personnel Officers

19

Flow Chart of Cement Manufacturing

Process
Mining & Crushing

Stacking & Reclaiming

Raw Material Grinding

Storage &Blending

Preheating & Burning

Clinker Cooling

Clinker Breaker

Clinker Storage

Cement Mill

Cement Silo

Rotary Packers

20

Mining:
The aim of mining is to strive for highest productivity with optimum utilisation
and conservation of mineral resources with zero accidents.
Limestone is an essential ingredient of cement. The limestone is obtained from
mines. The mines of Suli unit of Ambuja are at Kashlog, which is 20kms. by
road and about 3kms by belt conveyor.
Mines are of two types: open cast or underground. The type of mining depends
up on the factors such as depth of location of ore, the waste burden to be
handled and the value of deposit. In the case of limestone, open cast mining
form is usually prefered.
Mining Method Stages:
Drilling and Blasting
Crushing
Transportation of Crushed Material
Mining Procedure:
The limestone is mined from open cast quarry by conventional drilling and
blasting method. For blasting explosives amonium nitrate+fuel oil and ANFO in
slurry form are used. The blasted material is excavated by hydraulic excavaters
and loaded in to haulage dumpers. The material is hauled from quarry to crusher
for size reduction.
Occasionally, hydraulic ripper also rips the limestone. Marl is dug out by
ripping as it is very soft and loose. Ambuja Cement Limited is also using
surface miners for limestone production from mines. With this, drilling,
blasting, loading and crushing is totally avoided.

21

Crushing:
Crusher
Purpose: Crusher is required in the cement plant to reduce the size of boulders
after the mining process. The limestone mined is dumped in to crusher hopper.
The material is conveyed from the hopper to the crusher by means of push
feeder.Crusher used in this plant are primary impact crusher and secondary
roller crusher.
Working
The primary impact crusher contains one heavy rotor horizontally mounted
inside a rigid frame which lines throughout with replaceable linear plates. The
material is fed in to the crusher via feed rollers or enters directly on the top of
the rotor. When the fed material enters the crusher, it is initially struck by
hammer and then projected against the breaker plates at the opposite side of
feed opening and in this way the material gets crushed due to impact.
The secondary roller crusher contains two rollers rotating in opposite direction.
The material is fed between these two rollers and gets crushed.
The limestone after being crushed is then transported from Kashlog mines to
plant by over land belt conveyor.

Belt Conveyor:
Belt conveyor is a type of conveyor in which limestone is transported from one
place to another. The belt conveyor plays a very important role in a cement plant
and we can say that belt conveyor as working hand of cement plant from
blasting of limestone to packing of cement. The total belt conveyors in Suli
plant are 22.
Over Land Belt Conveyor (OLBC)
The material after being crushed goes to BC-3 conveyor from where it is fed to
BC-4 conveyor (OLBC), which is at high distance over the land. It is about
3kms. Long conveyor belt, running through three hills.

22

Stacking and Reclaiming:

Stacker
The purpose of stacker is to make piles of limestone on one side of yard
conveyor. The incoming material from the yard conveyor is conveyed via
tripper on to the Boom Belt and discharges it on to the Stock Pile Area. Stacking
system starts with Boom in lower most inclination travelling full length of pile.
At pile end stopping for a few seconds it get reversed with Boom raised by a
small predetermined step and again travelling full length of pile.

Reclaimer
The purpose of reclaimer is to cut piles across the surface to get homogenised
material.
The material is unloaded from the pile by the action of raking down by
Reclaimer. The reclaimer cuts stack pile in a slice from parallel to face of pile
and shifts material (limestone) to belt with the help of scraper. The scraper is
designed for homogenising and reclaiming of bulk material stored on
longitudinal piles on either side of machine.
At the pile base the material is seized by the blades on the endless scraper chain
and is conveyed to belt conveyor (BC-7) that runs longitudinally along the pile.

23

Raw Material Grinding:

The reclaimed limestone from BC-7 is then conveyed to raw limestone hopper
and the additives (shale, red ochre &iron orew) are conveyed to raw material
hoppers through BC-8 & BC-9. The desired amount of limestone and additives
are fed to common belt conveyor BC-10 through Weigh Feeders and then in to
raw mill through BC-11.

Raw Mill
The raw mill grinds the mixture of limestone, shale, red ochre and iron ores to
produce a raw meal mixture suitable for calcination by the Preheater/ Kiln.
A chute directs the raw material from the triple gate to a circular grinding table.
The centrifugal force from the revolving table moves the material outward and
under the grinding rollers. The coarse material is rejected and sent back again to
mill for regrinding.
The fine material from the mill is carried through the cyclones where most of it
drops out. This material is conveyed by a series of air slides to bucket elevator.
The bucket elevator conveys the material in to Blending Silo.The remaining fine
dust is carried through the Bag House Dust Collector by a series of chain
conveyors and the bucket elevators to surge silo.

Glass Bag House

The glass bag house contains a large no. of bags which are made up of special
fiber known as glass fiber. The heavy raw material gets sunk in the bag at the
bottom and the fine particles in the form of gas are taken out to main stock by a
fan (Bag House Fan) where they let out by a chimney. The raw material is
collected and then conveyed to blending silo by means of chain conveyors and
bucket elevator.

24

Raw Meal Storage & Blending:

Blending Silo
Purpose: Blending of raw meal.
Working: The ground raw meal is conveyed by bucket elevators to a strong
vessel called Blending Silo. The blending silo is 22 meter in diameter and 39
meter in height. The blending silo is like an inverted cone in its structure and
form. The storage capacity of blending silo is 14500 tonnes.
In the blending silo further mixing and homogenisation of raw feed takes place.
The stored raw mill material is blended and extracted simultaneously. The
bottom of blending silo consists of a central cone, peripheral area of which is
divided in to 10 portions, which are fitted with air slides inclined towards cone
having 10 discharge openings fitted with control flow gates. Operation is
controlled in such a way that any two opposite gates are open together in pairs.

25

Preheating and Burning:

Preheating

The preheating section is subdivided in to two parts called pre-calcining string

and kiln string.
Preheating is done by pre-heater and burning is carried out in acalciner heater
consists of 6 stage cyclone preheating. The hot gases coming from Kiln are
pushed upwards using Kiln String fan& Calcinating String fan. The hot gases
going up heat the raw material coming down. The material separation from air
is done in 6 stages through cyclones which force the material to go downward
and hot gases to move up, hence heat exchange takes place. The whole process
taking place in both of the strings is called Calcination. Calcination process is
taking place in preheater and only 10% of calcination process takes place in the
Kiln section.

Burning

The burning process takes place in the rotary kiln in which the material coming
from blending silo is converted in to fluid by heating up to temperature of 14001600 degrees. It is designed to produce 4600 metric tonnes of clinker per day.
Automatic spray lubrication system is also provided for kiln girth gear. A multi
channel, high efficiency burner is provided for kiln. The burner offered is
suitable to operate with coal having calorific value of 3800 k cal/ kg. The burner
is designed for a capacity of 81.4 million k cal/ hr.

26

Clinker Cooling, Breaking and Storage:

The hot material from kiln is fed on to the plates of cooler having holes. It has a
reciprocating movement which is used for material flow from one plate to
another. Below the plates there are chambers having fans and air at high
pressure is blown through holes. Due to this the clinker is cooled to 150 degree
centigrades. The cooled clinker is fed to Clinker Breaker that crushes the big
pieces in to predetermined size. The cooler exhaust gases are vented out to
atmosphere through an electrostatic precipitator.

The cooler used in the cooling process are Grate Coolers.

The Grate Cooler is divided in to three sections:
Continuous Impact System (CIS)
Controlled Flow Grate (CFG)
Conventional Cooler (CC)

The material (clinker) after being cooled is stored in clinker stock pile or also
called clinker yard. The most of the clinker, say about 70-80% is transported to
Ropar grinding unit of Ambuja and rest 20-30% of clinker is used in the
Darlaghat plant for cement manufacturing.

Cement Mill and Cement Storage:

27

Purpose: Cement mill is used for the purpose of grinding of clinker and other
additives for making cement.
The proper amount of clinker (obtained from clinker yard), fly ash from fly ash
silo and gypsum are fed in to their respective weigh feeders through respective
hoppers. Then throuhh belt conveyor BC18, the whole mixture is fed in to
cement mill also called ball mill.Cement mill is a horizontal mill, which
contains a no. of steel balls of different diameter as grinding media, so called
ball mill. The cement mill consists of two compartments; in first compartment
grinding steel balls are of 60-70 mm of diameter range and in second
compartment they are of 25-30 mm in dia. When clinker, fly ash and gypsum
come in contact with so many steel balls falling up and down, they get crushed
in to fine and coarse particles and mixed homogeneously with each other to
form cement.
The coarse particles are recirculated by O-Sepa fan. The coarse particles get
collected in furnance while fine particles are stored in silos conveyed by bucket
elevators. Silo in which cement is stored is called Cement Stock Silo. There are
four cement silos each having a storage capacity of 7000 tonnes and each is
used to store 5000 tonnes of cement.
A microphone sensor estimates the amount of cement processed in cement mill
at a particular instant by sensing the sound produced by rotating cement mill.
Inductive proximity switches sense the RPM of cement mill.De-dusting of gases
produced during the process is achieved by electrostatic precipitators and bag
filters.

Cement Packing and Dispatch:

28

Cement stored in the cement silos is then extracted and is fed to electronic
Rotary Packers by pneumatic gravity conveyor and bucket elevator. The rotary
packers are three in number, one with twelve nozzles and two with six nozzles
each.

Rotary Packers
The rotary packers are used for packing cement in to cement bags.
Automated packing of cement bags involves following steps :Switching on of a Packer: - Packer automatically selects the nozzle whose no.
is provided at the input.
Placing of Empty Bags:- The bags are placed manually by the worker and he
activates a lever.This in turn gives a signal to a solenoid valve that operates the
cylinder pneumatically which holds the bag.
Tarring: - When empty bag placed by the worker is detected, the total weight is
adjusted to zero by controller.
Coarse Feed: - After tarring is complete, the control system gives signal to
coarse feed solenoid valve which opens the slide gate. The filling starts and
continues up to 47.5 kg. as being monitored by the load cell.
Fine Feed: - As coarse feed completes, the fine feed solenoid valve receives a
signal and it opens the slide gate by operating the cylinder slowly so that the set
point of 50 kg. is reached.
Evaluation: - The current weight of bag is measured by the load cell and is
compared with set point of 50 kg. And filled bag is ejected on conveyor.
These packed cement bags are transported by belt conveyors and loaded in to
trucks by the truck loaders. The packer is also provided with correction facility
to ensure the correct weight of the cement bags. The packed cement is
dispatched to various destinations by trucks.

Objectives of the Study

29

1. To know whether workers remain absent from their work or not.

2. To find out the reasons of absenteeism.
3. To find out that at which shift the maximum no. of worker remain absent.

4. To study the effects of absenteeism on the workers.

5. To study the effects of absenteeism on organisation.

6. To know the expectations of workers from the organisation.

Introduction to Absenteeism
Absenteeism is said to be there when an employee fails to come to his
scheduled work. It is a big problem and a challenge to the working
organisations.Excessive absenteeism involves a considerable loss to the
30

enterprises as the work schedules are upset and delayed, and management has to
give overtime wages to workers to meet the delivery dates. The rates of
overtime wages are usually double than the normal rates of wages and as the
management has to pay overtime wages to their workers which becomes
financial burden to the working organisations with the passage of time.
Therefore it becomes necessary for the working organisations to find out the
reasons of absenteeism to deal with the problem in a better way.

Workers may remain absent from their regular work due to hard nature of jobs,
monotony in the work and due to their personal reasons. This leads to the
absenteeism.It is a normal and natural tendency among the factory workers.
Absenteeism means absence of workers from the regular work without, prior
permission, information, notice or sanction. It is unauthorised leave and it is
totally different from regulal leave or holiday. In brief, absenteeism means
absence which is wilful and can be avoided. Unauthorised absence from the
regular work is absenteeism. However, absence on account of strikes, lock-out
etc. does not constitute absenteeism.

The rate of absenteeism is expressed as the percentage of mandays lost through

absence to the total no. of mandays scheduled in a given period.
The no. of mandays scheduled to work is calculated by multiplying the average
number of workers by the number of working days during the given period.

Absenteeism is a universal problem in industry. It becomes a problem when it

exceeds the 10% as it disturbs the normal production schedules and creates
many problem for the organisation. Generally few percentage of workers
account for a large percentage of absenteeism. Operative employees remain
absent frequently than the supervisors and managers and any other employee of
the organisation.

Causes of Absenteeism

31

Absenteeism is one of the indicators to monitor and evaluate various labour

welfare programmes and labour policies. In order to identify the various causes
and extent of absenteeism, proper record should be kept in every department for
various causes of absenteeism by such divisions as age, sex, days of week and
classes of job. But it should always be in mind that it is not possible for any
researcher to enlist the exact causes and their percentage. The person who is
evaluating the personnel programme should classify the data relating to
absenteeism and must try to analyse the various causes of absenteeism. The root
causes of absenteeism are as follows:

Nature of Work: If the work is tough and monotonous in nature, the workers
get tired both physically as well as mentally. The excessive load of work makes
the workers to remain absent from their work and they start remaining absent
without giving information to the employer.

Working Conditions: The poor and unsafe working conditions adversly affect
the health of the employee. He get tired of work environment and start
remaining absent from the work.

Supervision: The poor supervision and less check on employee make him to
feel that if he remains absent and there is no check on him, then he start to
revise the things again and again and this leads to affect the organisation with
the passage of time.

Poor Control: Poor production and material control can result in absenteeism.
Unless the flow of work between departments is balanced and continuous,
worker may stay away from their jobs because they loose their interest in work
and also loose the feeling of importance of being dependable.

Absence of Regular Leave Arrangement: Every worker requires atleast 15 to

20 leave in a year for his personal work. The employer should provide for such
leave to all workers. However, in many factories, workers are not given leave as
and when required. Naturally, workers remain absent without any intimation to
the employer. Thus, absence of regular leave arrangement leads to labour
absenteesm.

32

Accidents: Industrial accidents and occupational diseases bring about

absenteeism depending up on the nature of process and machinary used.
Accidents make the workers incapale of work for some days. They also create
-mental problems.

Lack of Interest: Lack of interest and lack of feeling of responsibility and

worth-whileness are also fundamental causes of absenteeism. Attitude of mind
caused by environmental and sociological factors may condition some to
develope a feeling of irresponsibility about going to work.

Irregular Transport Facilities: Many factories are located away the city limits.
Naturally, workers have to travel long distances. Incase of any disturbance in
the transport system, workers are unable to reach their place of work at proper
time and they have to remain absent from the daily routine. Thus, transport
difficulties lead to labour absenteeism.

Alcoholism and Gamling Habits: A no. of workers in factories are used to

drinking, gambling and others habits.Such workers are unable to attend duties
regularly due to such habits.This leads to absenteeism particularly among male
workers.

Miscellaneous Causes: A miscellaneous group of causes include such factors

as bad weather, another job, personal business, friends visiting from distant
locations, absence of strict discipline, wilful disgard of rules, religious and
social festivals etc.

Types of Absentees
The chronic absentees are of following types:

33

Entrepreneurs: Entrepreneurs are those absentees who consider their job to be

too small for themselves.They engage themselves in several economic and
social activities. The motive behind such activities in monetary status and
powers, sense of achievement and social recognition.

Status Seekers: For status seekers, the discripancy between the ascribed and
achieved status is the primary cause of deviant work behaviour. Work, job and
money no doubt important to them but only to extent to which these help them
to achieve their goal.

Epicureans: Epicureans are disclined to undertake activities which call for

initiative, responsibility, discipline and physical discomfort. They strive to
organise their activities and social roles in a manner which brings them
unavoidable trouble. Work is frustrating experience for them and they seek to
avoid it to the maximum possible extent.

Family Orientated: The family orientated become chronic absentees because

of their over identification with family affairs. The lack of balance between
family involvement and job responsibility is the principal cause of their deviant
work behaviour.

Sick and Old Type: Sick and old type remain absent from work by reasons of
ill heaith, weak constitition, chronic diseases or old age.

Effects of Absenteeism

34

Labour absenteeism is harmful to both the employers and the workers as

follows:
1. Normal work-flow in the factory is disturbed.
2. Overall production in the factory goes down.
3. Difficulty is faced in executing the order goes down.
4. Casual workers may have to be employed to meet production schedules.Such
workers are not trained properly and this can lead to accidents if they do not
know about the work.
5. Overtime allowance bill increases considerably because of high absenteeism
and company has to face it as a financial burden.
6. Absenteeism creates pressures of extra work on the colleagues of the
absentees.
7. Workers lose wages for the unauthorised absence from their work.
8. Habitual absentees may be removed from the service which can lead them to
great hardship.
9. Work-culture of the organisation get affected as the other workers may
remain absent by looking to the absentees.

35

Research Methodology
Research means a search for knowledge or gains some new knowledge while
methodology refers to the theoretical analysis of methods appropriate to a field
of study or to the body of methods and principles particular to a branch of
knowledge. A Research Methodology has a applied framework for collecting
the data in an effective manner. Research methodology means defining a
problem, defining the research objectives, developing the research plan,
collecting the information, analysing the information and presentation of
findings. Such framework is called Research Design. The research process
that was followed by me consists of following steps;
A) Defining the problem
B) Developing the research plan
C) Collection of information
D) Analysing the information
E) Presentation of findings

A) Defining the Problem and Research Objectives:

The definition of problem includes the study of Absenteeism among Workers
of Ambuja at Darlaghat in the Mines.

B) Developing the Research Plan:

The development of research plan has following steps:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Data Source
Research Approach
Research Instrument
Sampling Plan
i)
ii)
iii)

Sample Unit
Sample Size
Contact Method

36

1. Data Source:
The researcher can get two types of data:
a) Primary Data
b) Secondary Data

Primary Data
Primary data is a data which does not exist earlier and is being collected by
the researcher first time for specific objectives. It is also called a fresh data.
In other words, direct collection of data from the source of information,
technology including personal interviews, telephonic interviews and with the
help of questionnaire.

Secondary Data
Any data which has been collected earlier by someone else for some specific
purposes is called secondary data. Indirect collection of data from sources
containing past information such as brouchers, annual publication, books etc.
constitute the secondary data.
Secondary data sources are as follows:
Text Books
Internet Sites
Newspapers and Journals
Brouchers
Annual Gadegts

2. Research Approach:
37

Survey is best suited for descriptive and analytical type of research.Survey

are undertaken to learn about peoples knowledge, beliefs, preferences,
attitude and satisfaction. Therefore, I have conducted this survey for
descriptive and analytical research process.

3. Research Instrument:
Questionnaire: Questionnaire is a type of statistical survey handed out in
the paper form usually to a specific demographic to gather information in
order to provide better services or facilities. A document that contains a set
of questions that has been formulated as a means of collecting information
and surveying opinion etc. on a specified subject, topic or theme etc. A
questionnaire was constructed by me for the survey on specified topic that
was on absenteeism.

4. Sampling Plan:
Sample is a group of few objects or things which represents the population
or universe from where it has been taken. The sampling plan calls for
followings:

Sample Unit- who is to be surveyed?

The target population must be defined that has to be sampled. It is necessary
so as to develope a sample frame so that everyone in the target population
has an equal chance of being sampled. I have completed my survey in
Ambuja Cement Limited, Darlaghat.

Sample Size- how many people to be surveyed?

Generally, large sample size gives more reliable results than the small sized
samples. The selection consisted of 60 workers of mines of Ambuja. The
selection of workers was done on the basis of Simple Random Sampling.

38

Simple random sampling is the technique in which every item in the universe
and population has an equal chance of being selected in the
sample.Researcher has no role to play or he cannot influence the selection
process.

Collecting the Information

After this I have collected the information from the respondents with the
help of Questionnaire.

Analysis of Data
The next step is to extract the pertinent findings from the collected data. The
data collected has been analysed by means of graphs, charts using simple
averages in order to make research more accurate.

Presentations of Findings
This was the last step of survey.

39

Section-B
Data Analysis
And
Interpretation

40

Q.1. Do you ever remain absent from your work?

Particulars

Response

Percentage (%)

Yes

12

20

No

48

80

Total

60

100

Interpretation: According to the survey it is clear that most of the workers

(80%) do not remain absent from their work. Only few percent of the workers
(20%) remain absent but this percentage is above the normal.

41

Q.2. Why do you remain absent from your work?

Particulars
Due to Emergency
Due to Illness
Due to Your Will
Due to overwork
Total

Response
10
40
8
2
60

Percentage (%)
16.66
66.66
13.34
3.34
100

Interpretation:
According to the survey it is clear that most of the workers remain absent due to
illness (66.66%) followed by emergency (16.66%). There are only few workers
who remain absent by their will (13.34%) and by overwork (3.34%).

42

Q.3. When do you remain absent from your work?

Particulars
At morning Shift(8am-2pm)
At evening Shift(2pm-8pm)
At night Shift(8pm-6am)
Total

Response
14
6
40
60

Percentage (%)
23.34
10
66.66
100

Interpretation: According to the survey it is clear that most of the workers

remain absent at the night shift (66.66%) followed by evening shift (10%) and
then by morning shift (23.34%).

43

Q.4. How many days you remain absent in a month?

Particulars
1 day
2 days
3 days
Others
Total

Response
26
20
5
9
60

Percentage (%)
43.34
33.33
8.33
15
100

Interpretation:
According to the survey we find that maximum no. of workers remain absent
for one day (43.34%) in a month. After that maximum no. goes to the workers
who remain absent for two days (33.33%) in a month. Only few no. of workers
remain absent for three (8.33%) or more days (15%).

44

Q.5. What are the Penalties for Absenteeism?

Particulars
Salary deduction
Extra Work/Assignment
No salary for absent
period
Remove from job for few
days
Total

Response
25
15
15

Percentage (%)
41.67
25
25

8.34

60

100

Interpretation:
According to the survey It is Clear That Salary Deduction (41.67%) is highly
penalty and after this extra work (25%) and no salary is (25%) and removal of
job is (8.34%) it is the lowest response in the penalties for absenteeism.

45

Q.6. Is there lack of better working conditions?

Particulars
Yes
No
Total

Response
25
35
60

Percentage (%)
41.67
58.33
100

Interpretation:
According to the survey it is clear that the majority of workers say that there are
better working conditions (58.33%), while remaining workers say that there is
lack of better working conditions (41.67%).

46

Q.7. what is the salary payment system in the organisation?

Particulars
Fixed salary
Salary as per the working
days
Salary as per the
productivity
Total

Response
30
20

Percentage (%)
50
30

10

20

60

100

Interpretation:
According to the survey it is found that payment system is define in following
ways. In this there are fixed salary is (50%) and as per working days (30%) and
as per productivity (20%) is the salary payment system in the organisation.

47

Q.8. Are you overburdened with work?

Particulars
Yes
No
Total

Response
11
49
60

Percentage (%)
18
82
100

Interpretation:
According to the survey we find that the most of the workers are not
overburdened (82%) with work.Only a few percent of the workers are
overburdened (18%).

Q.9. Are you not provided better wages and salaries?

48

Particulars
Yes
No
Total

Response
28
32
60

Percentage (%)
46.66
53.34
100

Interpretation:
According to the survey it is clear that near about (46.66%)of the workers say
that they are not provided better wages and salaries while (53.34%) of the
workers says that they are given better wages and salaries.

49

Q.10.What do you think about leaves and holidays policy provided in this
company?
Particulars
Good
Satisfactory
Not satisfactory
Total

Response
30
18
12
60

Percentage (%)
50
30
20
100

Interpretation:
According to the survey it is clear that 50% people feel that there are good.30%
feel that there are satisfactory and 20% feel that there are not satisfactory leaves
And holidays are provided in the organisation.

50

Q.11. Is there lack of effective supervision?

Particulars
Yes
No
Total

Response
20
40
60

Percentage (%)
33.34
66.66
100

Interpretation:
According to the survey it is clear that maximum no. of workers say that there is
effective supervision (66.66%). Only few workers feel that there is lack of
effective supervision (33.34%).

51

Q.12. Does absenteeism affects your daily work routine?

Particulars
Yes
No
Total

Response
45
15
60

Percentage (%)
75
25
100

Interpretation:
According to the Survey it is clear that maximum no. of worker feel that
absenteeism affects their work (75%) while some workers say that absenteeism
has no effect on their work (25%).

Q.13. In what way absenteeism affects your work?

52

Particulars
Get Overburdened
Lagged Behind Others
Get Stressed
Total

Response
35
20
5
60

Percentage (%)
58.44
33.33
8.33
100

Interpretation:
According to the survey it is clear that maximum no. of workers get
overburdened (58.44%) if they remain absent while some workers lagged
behind (33.33%) others in the work and some workers get stressed (8.33%).

Q.14 Does absenteeism affect organisational efficiency?

53

Particulars
Yes
No
Total

Response
42
18
60

Percentage (%)
70
30
100

Interpretation:
According to the survey it is clear that the majority of workers are in the favour
of point of view that absenteeism has effect on organisational efficiency (70%)
while remaining others thinks that absenteeism has no effect (30%) on
organisation.

Q.15. In what way absenteeism affects organisational efficiency?

54

Particulars
Productivity Get Reduced
Cost of Production
Increases
Labour Turn-Over Increases
Working Culture Get
Affected

Response
32
12

Percentage (%)
53
20

6
10

10
17

Total

60

100

Interpretation:
According to the survey it is clear that maximum no. of workers say that the
productivity gets reduced (53%) if they remain absent. After that the maximum
no. of workers says cost of production increases(20%), followed by the workers
who say that working culture get affected(17%) followed by the worker who
say that the labour turn over increases(10%).

55

Q.16. What do you expect from organisation?

Particulars
More Leaves
Better Working Condition
Effective Supervision
Better Management Policies
Total

Response
20
15
10
15
60

Percentage (%)
33.33
25
16.67
25
100

Interpretation:
According to the survey it is clear that the maximum no. of workers expect from
organisation better management policies(25%), followed by the workers who
expect better working conditions(25%), more leaves(33.33%) and lastly who
expect effective supervision(16.67%).

56

Q.17. Do you want to give any suggestion?

Particulars
Yes
No
Total

Response
32
28
60

Percentage (%)
64
36
100

Interpretation:
According to the survey it is clear that the majority of the workers want to give
suggestions (64%). Only some workers do not give any suggestion (36%).

Findings
57

1. The workers who remain absent from the work are the 20% of the total
population surveyed.
2. The most of the workers remains absent at the time of emergency
followed by illness.
3. The majority of workers remains absent at the night shift.
4. Workers are not overburdened with work and there is no lack of effective
supervision.
5. The workers who remain absent think that they are not provided better
salaries and wages.
6. The most of workers think that absenteeism affects their work as well as
organisational efficiency in respect that the productivity of the
organisation is reduced.
7. The maximum no. of workers wants better management policies in favour
of them.

Limitations
1. The study was restricted to only 60 workers of Ambuja Cement. It was
not covering the entire unit.
58

2. The study was only for 6-8 weeks, which was not sufficient time to deal
with all aspects.
3. Lack of finance.

4. The biasness of workers cannot be changed.

5. Some workers were not interested in giving interview.

6. The workers were very busy, so it was difficult for the workers to fill the
questionnaires.
7. The finding of our survey may differ from actual.

Suggestions

59

1. The proper selection and proper orientation of workers so that their

critical attitude is reduced.
2. The contract workers, who are rendering their service for a long time,
must be incurred in to wage board.

3. Worker should be given bonus at the time of festivals. It increases their

morale and makes them to feel happy at work.
4. Hike in the wages and of salaries of workers time to time.

5. Management must make policies which are favourable for both

management as well as workers.
6. Rest rooms must be provided to workers.

7. There is no effective promotion policy for workers.

8. Disciplinary action must be taken against those who frequently remain
absent.

Conclusion
The maximum number of worker know that absenteeism affect their
work as well as organisational efficiency, but in spite of knowing all this
they remain absent from their work. The percentage of workers who
remain absent is high which is not good for manufacturing industry,
whose output largely depends up on workers.
60

The absenteeism rate above 5% is not considered good for industry so

the rate found by the survey is above 5% which is not a good sign for the
industry like this.
The case is not like that the workers are not provided leaves. They remain
absent from the work because they think that they are not provided
salaries according to their work.
The workers expect better policies from their management which are
beneficial to both workers as well as organisation.

Questionnaire
Dear Respondent,

I am a student of BBA 6th Sem. of Govt. Post Graduate College Bilaspur (HP). I
am conducting a survey on absenteeism among Employee. So I need your cooperation which will help me to draw a conclusion. I assure that your
information will be kept confidential.

61

Name:
Age:
Department:
Marital Status:
Wage Board Worker/ Contract Worker:

1. Do you ever remain absent from your work?

Yes
No

2. Why do you remain absent from your work?

Due to Emergency Due to illness
Due to your will

Due to overwork

3. When you remain absent from your work? At morning shift (8am-2pm)
At evening shift (2pm-8pm) At night shift(8pm-6am)

4. How many days you remain absent in a month?

1day 2days 3days other specify

5. What are the Penalties for Absenteeism?

Salary deduction extra work/assignment
No salary for absent period remove from job new days

62

6. is there lack of better working conditions?

Yes

No

7. What is the salary payment system in the organisation?

Fixed salary salary as per working days
Salary as per productivity

8. Are you overburdened with work?

Yes

No

9. Are you not provided better wages and salaries?

Yes

No

10. What do you think about leaves and holiday policy provided in this
company?
Good

satisfactory

not satisfactory

11. is there lack of effective supervision?

Yes

No

12. Does absenteeism affect your daily work routine?

Yes

No

13. In what way absenteeism affect your work?

63

Get over burdened Lagged behind others get stressed

14. Does absenteeism affect organisational efficiency?

Yes

No

15. In what way absenteeism affect organisational efficiency?

Productivity get reduced Cost of production increases
Labour turn-over increases working culture get affected

16. What do you expect from organization?

More leaves Better working conditions
Effective supervision Better management policies

17. Do you want to give any suggestion?

Yes

No

18. What is your suggestion?

Bibliography
Books
Chhabra, T.N., Human Resource Management, Dhanpat Rai & Co.(P)
Ltd.,2007, PP 466-69

64

Gupta, C.B., Human Resource Management, Sultan Chand & Sons

Publications New Delhi, 2000, PP 152-56
Kothari, C.R.,Research Methodology:Methods&Techniques,New
Publications,New Delhi,2007, PP 5-9
Websites
www.ambujacement.com
www.indianbba.com

65

Age

66