Background

Surat, now the 12th largest city in India, provides an extraordinary scope of employment, both in terms of its size and types of activities. The city’s population increased three-fold between 1971 and 1991 mainly due to the mushrooming of small scale industries in the textile and diamond businesses, which has led to a huge influx of migrant workers. The diamond industry now employs about 400,000 men.

Large-scale migration of workers in unorganized and small-scale sectors comes with its own set of issues. Even though the incomes of migrant workers might have seen a rise, their working and living conditions are extremely poor. Many of the migrants suffer from anxiety because of the alien and hostile urban environment, as well as an absence of social security. Surat, a city that prides itself on high employment levels and high wage-earnings, also has the highest number of recorded HIV/AIDS cases in the State. The national program for HIV/AIDS recognizes migrant populations as a special group whose health status needs concern and attention.

A close look at the profile of a migrant worker shows a young man in the age group of 17-30 years, working 12-14 hours a day, living in a small, cramped room, away from home and family. Diamond polishing is intensive, tedious and repetitive; by the age of 45, many workers have very weak eye sight. At best, the young man has a 10 th grade education. All these factors make the migrant workers and their families extremely vulnerable

In 1998 Sahas, meaning “entrepreneurial spirit,” began working with migrant workers in the diamond cutting industry on health awareness. With the support of diamond factory owners and other strategic partners, Sahas has developed various education and development initiatives for the migrant population.

Sahas has been working with this group for the past 7 years and has developed a substantial network including factory owners who help to provide access to this migrant worker community. Sahas’s approach involves migrant workers as active partners in resolving their own issues.

Addressing the broader concerns of these migrant workers and empowering them to benefit with the greater freedom they get from their incomes is a key strategy to improving their futures. This requires them to build upon their limited education but equally, to develop an awareness of their rights, the resources available to them and the other choices they have to make their lives more fulfilling.

As a 2005 Indicorps fellow, you will be tasked with developing and implementing a practical literacy program that will empower the diamond workers with the knowledge of public services and benefits. The course-based program you create should equip the diamond workers with the skills and knowledge to access basic services such as land registries, ration cards and bank accounts. Through this program you will concurrently seek to build their literacy and numerical skills.

Initially, the fellow will interact with the Sahas peer educators, diamond factory owners and focus groups of diamond workers to develop an understanding of the specific services required. This should inform the content of the curriculum. The fellow will then need to identify and critically understand how the services operate and how the workers can get access to them in the city. The classes you develop will need to educate the diamond workers on the merits of services as they may not see their use. This may involve organizing guest speakers or developing scenario-based activities that will stimulate further discussion. To implement the program effectively, the fellow should share practices and ideas with the Sahas team and diamond workers.

It will be important to organize a structured training timetable which finds a balance between academic and practical application and suits the workers’ schedules. The courses and classes need to be logically structured, building knowledge gradually and using original materials such as handbooks and flyers that will be easy to follow and accurate. An earlier effort by Sahas only covered literacy and numeracy at an academic level. Without any real application, the workers quickly lost interest and the program closed. Designing, documenting and managing such modules will create a resource that Sahas will be able to use and build upon in the future.

This project offers an exciting opportunity to understand how the public service systems in India work. It will enable the fellow to compare how India ’s society differs in terms of what services people need and utilize. Ideally, the fellow will have experience in providing citizens’ advice and public systems. Experience developing and running community-based education programs may prove to be useful. The project will require a great deal of self-initiative and patience to work with the public service systems and also diamond workers.

Indicorps rating: Moderate to Difficult

You will be provided with housing in either rented accommodation or with a family. Rented accommodation will have modest facilities with running electricity and water. You will be expected to be otherwise self-sufficient, including washing your own clothes. Your travel around the Surat district will be covered by Sahas. Internet access is available at the Sahas office and also at numerous Internet cafes. Surat is well connected with trains traveling from the main station throughout India .

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