US tariffs ruin education dreams for children in India’s diamond hub

Surat, India – In 2018, Alpesh Bhai enrolled his three-year-old girl successful an English-language backstage schoolhouse successful Surat. This was thing helium ne'er imagined imaginable portion increasing up successful his colony successful the Indian authorities of Gujarat, wherever his household survived connected tiny fields of fennel, castor and cumin, with their net hardly capable to screen basal needs.

He had studied successful a nationalist school, where, helium recalled, “teachers were a rarity, and English astir didn’t exist”.

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“Maybe if I knew English, I would person been immoderate authorities worker. Who knows?”, helium said, referring to the imagination of a bulk of Indians, arsenic authorities jobs travel with tenure and benefits.

His finances improved erstwhile helium joined the diamond cutting manufacture successful Surat, a metropolis perched on India’s Arabian Sea coast, wherever astir 80 percent of the world’s diamonds are chopped and polished. Monthly net of 35,000 rupees ($390) for the archetypal clip brought Alpesh a consciousness of stability, and with it, the means to springiness his children the acquisition helium ne'er had.

“I was determined that astatine slightest my children would get the benignant of backstage acquisition I was deprived of,” helium said.

But that imagination did not last. The archetypal disruption to concern came with Russia’s full-scale penetration of Ukraine successful 2022. The sanctions connected Russia wounded proviso chains, arsenic India sourced astatine slightest a 3rd of its earthy diamonds from Russia, starring to layoffs.

Alpesh’s net fell to 18,000 rupees ($200) a month, past to 20,000 rupees ($222). Soon, the 25,000 rupees ($280) yearly schoolhouse interest became unmanageable. By the clip his older girl reached people three, conscionable arsenic his younger kid started school, the unit became impossible.

Earlier this year, helium pulled some children retired of backstage schoolhouse and enrolled them successful a adjacent nationalist one. A fewer months later, erstwhile caller United States tariffs deepened the situation arsenic request slumped further, his polishing portion laid disconnected 60 percent of its workers, Alpesh among them.

“Seems similar I’ve travel backmost to wherever I started,” helium said.

Surat, India’s diamond hub, employs much than 600,000 workers, and hosts 15 ample polishing units with yearly income exceeding $100m. For decades, Surat’s diamond‑polishing manufacture has offered migrant workers from agrarian Gujarat, galore with small oregon nary education, higher incomes, successful immoderate cases up to 100,000 rupees ($1,112) a month, and a way retired of agrarian hardship.

But caller shocks person exposed the fragility of that ladder, with adjacent to 400,000 workers having faced layoffs, wage cuts, oregon reduced hours.

Even earlier Russia’s warfare connected Ukraine began successful February 2022, Surat’s diamond manufacture faced aggregate challenges: disrupted supplies from African mines, weakening request successful cardinal Western markets, and inconsistent exports to China, the second-largest customer. With the onset of the war, India’s exports of chopped and polished diamonds successful the fiscal twelvemonth ending connected March 31, 2024, fell by 27.6 percent, with crisp declines successful its apical markets – the US, China, and the United Arab Emirates.

The 50 percent tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump person worsened the downturn.

Alpesh present works loading and unloading textile consignments for astir 12,000 rupees ($133) a month, hardly capable to screen nutrient and rent.

“If I had kept them successful the backstage school, I don’t cognize however I would person survived,” Alpesh said. “People present person killed themselves implicit debts and schoolhouse fees. When you don’t person capable to eat, however volition you deliberation of teaching your children well?”

His daughters are inactive adjusting. “They sometimes archer me, ‘Pupa, the studies aren’t arsenic bully now’. I archer them we’ll enactment them backmost successful the backstage schoolhouse soon, but I don’t cognize erstwhile that volition happen.”

‘An exodus’

Some workers person returned to their villages, arsenic galore migrant families successful Surat tin nary longer spend rent oregon find alternate work.

Shyam Patel, 35, was among them. When exports slowed and US tariffs deed successful August, the polishing portion wherever helium worked unopen down. With nary different enactment available, helium returned to his colony successful the Banaskantha territory the pursuing month.

“What different enactment was there?” helium said. “In the city, there’s rent to wage adjacent erstwhile there’s nary work.”

He present works arsenic a daily-wage labourer successful fabric fields successful his village. His son, who was successful the last twelvemonth of precocious school, dropped retired aft 4 months of the caller world session.

“We’ll enactment him backmost successful schoolhouse adjacent year,” Shyam said. “The authorities schoolhouse said they can’t instrumentality caller students successful the mediate of the term. Till then, helium helps maine successful the fields.”

Across the city, the disruption is evident successful authorities data. More than 600 students near schoolhouse mid-session past twelvemonth arsenic their parents mislaid enactment oregon returned to their villages, mostly successful Saurashtra and northbound Gujarat.

“Most migrants travel to Surat to settee – the metropolis has full [neighbourhoods] and lodging clusters built for diamond workers,” said Bhavesh Tank, vice president of the Diamond Workers Union Gujarat. “An exodus successful the mediate of the twelvemonth is unprecedented, and the driblet successful schoolhouse enrolment suggests galore are not coming backmost soon.”

The national estimates that astir 50,000 workers person near Surat implicit the past 12 to 14 months.

The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), a Hindu nationalist radical allied with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has been intimately observing the diamond manufacture situation successful Surat.

“The fig of dropouts has reached a constituent wherever adjacent authorities schools are struggling to instrumentality successful caller students, said Purvesh Togadia, a VHP typical successful the city. “The mediocre prime of acquisition is making the modulation adjacent much disheartening for families.”

The mediocre prime of acquisition successful nationalist schools is good established. In 2024, lone 23.4 percent of people 3 students could work astatine a people 2 level, compared with 35.5 percent successful backstage schools. By people 5, the spread persisted – 44.8 percent successful authorities schools versus 59.3 percent successful backstage ones.

Kishor Bhamre, manager astatine Pratham, an organisation moving connected children’s rights crossed acquisition and labour, said the setback is not conscionable world but psychological.

“Children moving from backstage to authorities schools suffer the situation they grew up successful – their friends, acquainted teachers, and a consciousness of community. For many, it besides means shifting from an municipality to a agrarian setting, which makes the accommodation adjacent harder and affects their learning,” helium said.

Al Jazeera reached retired to the Surat Municipal Corporation and the state’s acquisition curate for comment, but did not person a response.

Limited help

The Diamond Workers Union has repeatedly appealed to the authorities authorities to supply an economical alleviation bundle and revise salaries successful enactment with inflation. The national has besides urged authorities to code the arsenic pressing concern of the increasing fig of schoolhouse dropouts among workers’ children.

The Gujarat authorities successful May introduced a peculiar assistance bundle for affected diamond workers – a uncommon determination successful the industry.

Under the scheme, the authorities authorities committed to paying for 1 twelvemonth of schoolhouse fees for diamond polishers’ children, up to 13,500 rupees ($150) annually. To qualify, workers indispensable person been unemployed for the past twelvemonth and person astatine slightest 3 years of acquisition successful a diamond factory. The fees volition beryllium paid straight to the schools.

The authorities received astir 90,000 requests from diamond workers crossed Gujarat, including astir 74,000 from Surat alone.  After a dilatory commencement – it had provided assistance to lone 170 children by July – officials reported disbursing 82.8 cardinal rupees ($921,000) towards schoolhouse fees for 6,368 children of jobless diamond workers successful Surat by mid-September.

But astir 26,000 applicants were rejected, reportedly owed to “improper details mentioned” successful the forms, starring to vexation and choler among workers. In the past fewer days, astir 1,000 diamond polishers person filed applications with the section government, demanding to cognize who rejected their forms and connected what grounds, and alleging opacity successful the process.

The scheme’s rigid eligibility criteria person besides excluded workers.

“The strategy lone covers those who person wholly mislaid their jobs, but it leaves retired galore who are facing partial cuts oregon reduced work,” said Tank. “They’re struggling conscionable arsenic overmuch and request enactment equally.”

Tank added that acquisition remains 1 of the astir communal concerns among workers reaching retired to the union’s termination prevention helpline, which was acceptable up by the Diamond Workers Union aft Surat had already recorded astatine slightest 71 suicides among diamond workers by November 2024. It has received much than 5,000 calls truthful far.

Divyaben Makwana, 40, mislaid her 22-year-old son, Kewalbhai, who had been moving arsenic a diamond polisher for 3 years. On June 14, helium died by suicide.

Kewalbhai had been nether immense intelligence accent aft losing his occupation successful the diamond market, his parent told Al Jazeera.

“He was earning astir 20,000 rupees ($220) a month, and erstwhile adjacent that collapsed,” helium took his life, she said. “We took him to the infirmary and did everything we could. I borrowed 500,000 rupees ($5,560) from relatives and friends, but we couldn’t prevention him. Now, I don’t person a lad – lone a loan.”

She lives successful Surat with her husband, who has been incapable to enactment owed to prolonged illness, and their younger son, Karmdeep, 18. With nary means to instrumentality to their colony successful Saurashtra, Divyaben has begun moving arsenic a home idiosyncratic to marque ends meet. Karmdeep dropped retired aft people 11, and present attends a section coaching centre, wherever helium is learning diamond faceting portion looking for work.

“Education has go truthful expensive,” Divyaben said. “At slightest with coaching, he’ll larn a skill. By the clip the marketplace recovers, if he’s trained arsenic a craftsman, possibly we’ll beryllium capable to repay immoderate of our debts.”

She paused, her dependable low. “I don’t cognize if education, whether taken connected indebtedness oregon fixed free, tin truly alteration our fate. Our lone anticipation is inactive the diamond.”

If you oregon idiosyncratic you cognize is astatine hazard of suicide, these organisations whitethorn beryllium capable to help.

You tin entree the Diamond Workers Union helpline astatine +91-92395 00009.