'Fathers sold their daughters for Rs 200'

It was just days into demonetisation which hit the country on November 8 2016 when a construction labourer from Thane dragged his teenage daughter into an abandoned industrial unit Here with her head shrouded in a dupatta she became the subject of a tiny bargain that was being negotiated by the units watchman with a client When the deal had been sealed her father had made R200 by selling her for a few hours This horrifying account is just one of the many stories relayed to developmental economist Ritu Dewan who undertook a firstofitskind study in the summer of last year to measure the impact of demonetisation on the workers and construction labourers in the Mumbai Metropolitan RegionTurning to the nakasThe study has become the subject of Dewans new book Demonetisation From Deprivation to Destitution which she coauthored with researcher Radha Sehgal One of the main reasons behind the survey says Dewan was that there was nothing available in terms of primary data to understand why demonetisation wasnt good for the economy There were some superb books and brilliantlyresearched journalistic pieces being written on demonetisation but they relied on secondary information As an economist you need to quantify any impact says Dewan who led the research with the help of six interns from St Xaviers College Dhobi Talao in April and May of last year mdash over a year after demonetisation happenedThe team hadnt expected the huge wave of anger that demonetisation brought with it It was not a hitandrun event There are things that they labourers will never ever recover from argues Dewan also the vicepresident of the Indian Society of Labour Economics Her research puts their story into perspectiveDewan and team surveyed 227 workers 125 men and 102 women from eight construction nakas mdash Shivaji Chowk No 1 Mumbradevi Shahad East Morivali KapurbawdiThane West Manpada Khemani and Dhamankar mdash in the Thane district These nakas are fixed places where construction workers stand and wait every day to find work The contractors come to these nakas and select workersRitu DewanThere were two main reasons behind choosing these particular nakas says Dewan First maximum number of constructions were apparently taking place in this area as there was a major shift of population to this location second most of the nakas located in this district represent an amalgamation of both local and migrant workers Split into three phases the survey highlights the ground truths of PM Narendra Modis policyFarreaching impactDemonetisation became an easy excuse to reduce the wages of labourers if nothing else they were given the old R500 notes and expected to exchange it on their own In some cases industrial units shut down and jobs were no longer available One of the immediate impacts of this was that several workers had to remove their children from school as they just didnt have the money for the midterm fees Girls in particular were taken out of school for three to four months together which meant they had to skip the entire year Many kids were also transferred from private to municipal or vernacular schools says Dewan There was also a significant percentage of people who no longer had access to hospitals or healthcare In fact 31 workers reported absolute nonuse of medicines during the three months after demonetisationBut the single most distressing fallout of demonetisation writes Dewan was the drastic decline in basic nutritional levels An appalling 63 per cent of these 227 households had to reduce their basic nutritional levels in the first three months They were not even eating one meal a day she says While the langars at gurdwaras were succor for many Dewan points out how kirana store owners whod take the Aadhar card as collateral mdash making many fear that theyd lose their citizenship mdash would also take advantage of women sometimes on the pretext of giving them extra grainPost demonetisation sexual violence had become a precondition for employment I have seen it with my own eyes how at nakas the more undernourished and less undernourished women would be standing in different queues They were being asked pointblank if they would sleep with the contractors It was tragic says Dewan adding that worse was fathers and brothers confessing to her about selling their daughters and sisters for Rs 200300 Dewan says this research can be extended to all informal urban sectors across the country As economists we know that demonetisation failed in every possible way There should have been greater state responsibility of giving and not taking awayCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates