Our day started with a lecture on child labor and continued with a lecture on gender in India. Unfortunately, another event was happening during the gender lecture that I wanted to attend so I was not able to sit in on the talk. I did ask someone to take notes on the subject though, and was able in the end to learn a little about what was talked about. Instead of the lecture I went to lunch with a few of my classmates and some representatives from a micro-lending institution. We then went to meet the rest of the class at the Observatory Research Foundation (ORF) and a few of us went to a law firm after that. The night ended with a JNU dinner and a suit fitting that could have been better.
Our first speaker was an advocate for children's rights and talked on child labor. She said that 40% of forced labor comes from children. She started working on a program to ID children who were bonded to get them released and in school because if a child is in school they are not able to be at work (with this program adults are also targeted and have a livelihood program). Through this program, alliances were built with the police and labor departments and leaders in different communities. There was also a bridge program for the children to catch them up to their appropriate grade level so they could then be integrated with children their own age. However, with all of this girls were left out because the girls were often locked in their houses cleaning, fetching water, etc. This would be their routine for their entire life and as they grew older they would have children who would receive the same fate. After this was realized, the program started focusing on all children, not just forced labor, saying all children have a right to childhood. Families would say their children had to work because they were too poor and needed the extra income but when children were taken out of the workforce, wages of women increased three times and men's wages doubled. She, therefore, made the argument that because children work there is poverty and this is helped by the fact that children are forced to work long hours and are cheap. The program helped deepen democracy by giving rights to children and led to the Right to Education Act allowing greater access to education. Our speaker concluded with some comments on the ILO 138 & 132 (India is still not a signatory of either) which say that the most extreme forms of child labor need to be abolished (illegal drugs, sex, forced, etc) but this invests in only some children and once you take one child out of one of these positions there is another child waiting to go in so it doesn't prevent anything. There is an enormous demand for education today and parents are willing to sacrifice to get their children into schools but they don't know how to do it.
I often wonder what a child thinks. They are too young to defend themselves and if this is the only life they have known, do they even know it is wrong? If a child worker has known nothing but labor, I would think they would just think of it as a way of life. Just as in poverty and other cruelties that exist, there needs to be a way to break the cycle. A future policy makers I think we can help with this but I am skeptical that it will be enough, especially if we are not on the ground seeing what is happening. Our speaker also said that bonded labor is the first access to credit. People can't pay their loans back so they do it with labor. I do think that it is great that people can be lifted out of poverty with credit but I am also hesitant at times because it had caused bonded labor and suicides. Is there something else that could allow others to increase their well being?
Gender is something I find highly interesting. Despite which country I am in this is something that is always important. In India it seems as though there are many gods portrayed as women and yet it is a very patriarchal society. Even in the US, though we claim all are equal, this is not true and I believe gender does play a role in decision making and there are still some discrimination that exist. Women bare children, take care of their families, and contribute immensely to their communities and homes and yet men still rule the world (I know this is exaggerated in most cases, but in some places all the traditional "gender roles" are still in place). I was told that this talk included information on a dowry law. To attempt to make things better, a dowry law was put into place so that women did not have to be "sold" for a certain amount. However, when gifts were given by the women's family and something went wrong in the marriage, it was claimed that these gifts were a dowry...another law that was put in place and did not have the intended outcome. My sister told me that in India women are burned ("bride burning") if they have an insufficient dowry or if a man wants to get remarried and one of my professors said this was true. It is hard to find a law or policy that will prevent such occurrences and also have a positive outcome without any backlash. I also talked to some fellows at JNU and they were asking how I felt about the metro having a car for women and one for men. This segregation was also in the metros in Mexico when I visited. I said in that case I thought it was good because the reason for the segregation in Mexico was because women were getting assaulted and raped. In India I didn't know if it was for the same reason or if it was a cultural thing. The men I was talking to seemed to think the segregation made situations worse because if a woman gets on the train and enters the men's cabin, the men automatically think it is ok to rub up on her because she had the option to go into her own cabin and decided not to. It was a very interesting conversation.
For lunch we met with some representatives from Basix, which is an institution that deals with microfinance. The entire class had visited the institution and some sites of clients but I had not arrived in India so I was very thankful for the opportunity to talk to people about about the program and learn what Basix had to offer and what the model was all about. I think it is more intriguing for me because I wrote my economics thesis on microfinance and joint liability. I am very interested in seeing how different countries form their models and if their programs are successful. I talked a lot with one of the men about group lending. He said that they assist with larger groups and help them get connected with banks to take out loans but they do not deal with large groups. At Basix there are groups of 4-5 and they self select to be in the groups. This helps because the (mostly) women know the characteristics of the other women and therefore will not let someone in their group unless they have reasonable certainty that this woman will not default on her loan. He said that there is a very good repayment rate, except for in one area where a Maoist group is telling the women not to repay their loans and offering them alternatives with lower interest rates. Other than this, the repayment rate is excellent. He also said that they work with households who are already involved in economic activity and are not working with the "ultra poor." I was able to see that what I found in my case study, that was a case study on Ayacucho, Peru, was also true in this case. Unless there are other outside factors, in an infinite game where women need to pay their loan back to be able to get another loan, they will pay their loan back because it is better to pay it back than to default and have nothing. It was very exciting to talk to someone involved in the field and to see what I have researched has been successful in India.
Adding to the excitement of this busy day, we got to visit a think tank, the Observatory Research Foundation, and talk to a former ambassador and his his senior staff. We were allowed to ask any question we wanted and talked to them about energy, security, the economy, liberalization, the foreign service, and politics. It was an extremely unique and enriching opportunity.
After visiting with the ambassador, a small group of us went to talk to Dr.Goswamni's cousin, Lira Goswami, at her law firm. This was also a very enriching experience for all of us interested in law and the economy. She talked about how the law and business are, of course, intertwined. We talked about companies setting up different branches - as liaisons, trading offices, and subsidiaries and how research needs to be done on the industry, regulatory framework and the most effective way to structure taxes. There are also different treaties for different countries regarding taxes. Of course the US is always worried about corruption, which there is a lot of in India. I know in some interviews and classes we have talked about the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and some firms will not enter into a business contract unless the other party also abides by this. Lira said that in addition to India being extremely corrupt, this problem has also been getting worse. However, India does have an integrity clause/contract.
In 1992-93 there was a lot of liberalization and almost every sector can have investment without government approval. There are still some sectors like defense, media, etc. where the government thinks it is important, from a national security view, to keep control of. The impact MNEs have in GDP is minuscule because India is not dependent on foreign investment but she said they benefit in terms of perception and ability to do business. India is a large emerging market and there is a huge potential for growth. It needs to maintain a 9% growth rate to help with employment so it is important to open up to foreign investment. India has a large middle class, English, good educational institutions, skilled labor and a democracy. This gives them a leg up. One thing they need to work on is certainty in tax laws and avoiding frequent change in the laws. I think there is definitely room for growth, especially since there is such little foreign investment in India and business have only just begun to enter into the market. I am also determined to find out how much MNEs help with growth and what this potential could be. I also think that India being a democracy could have a play in investment in the long term. With both India and China growing, if more certainty and rights are seen in India they may have a huge advantage.
Our night and semi wrap up for India included a party at JNU. There were a bunch of JNU professors there including some fellows. I spent most of my night talking to two fellows - one was originally from Canada but has been teaching in London for the past 10 years and the other was originally from the UK but has been working in South Africa. It was a pretty fun night
Long post, and one that has many feelings in it. The one theme that I coul dcomment on is the child education one. Among the government of India's worst failing is the failure to educate the potential talent it has. It is not difficult to do, but requires a mercilessness and an incentive system (the proverbial carrot and a big stick). It has netiher the guts to discipline those who steal what would otherwise go to children, but is unable to reward those who do their job well with few rewards. kg
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