Abstract

The international labor organization’s 2009 global employment report forecasts unemployment to rise by over five million this year unless policies are implemented which balance economic and social dimensions, especially in the aftermath of the global turmoil that has quadrupled the vulnerability of the most disadvantaged group of workers like casual, informal and women. Economies world over have failed to create ‘decent work’ and globalization has accentuated inter-country and intra-country inequalities as the role of markets were overvalued, of states undervalued and dignity of work devalued. Markets are blind to equity and usually miss out the human connection between lofty economic growth targets and avowed development goals that urgently call for resilience amongst the affected people as an essential coping strategy. Grass root experiments and experiences would be handy tools that reduce the gap between the macro and micro levels via meso analysis. This research paper shares the field experiences of the Indian project ‘Bharat empowered’ that forms an essential part of the NGO ‘students in free enterprise’ (SIFE) wherein, young students work with the community of underprivileged and marginalized segments of the unemployed, poor children, women and fisher folks in Mumbai via empowerment and livelihood strategies of training, skill development, soft skills and communication (in English). This in sync with the global model of SIFE that aims at connecting generations of leaders to create a better world through the positive power of business via community programs through a network of universities, donors and countries.  The India chapter of SIFE was launched in Mumbai in 2008 and aims at ‘driving the point’ through innovative projects like ‘Bharat empowered (India empowered), skiksha (learning English), fishing for Wealth (micro finance and financial literacy) and Illuminate (social entrepreneurship competition)’. The young students in my college (H. R. College) are carrying out this project for which I have shared my research on fisher folks and informal women workers in a fishing village in Mumbai (Charkop). Together, we plan to replicate the experience in the southern part of the city to other parts to build resilience amongst communities before the occurrence of future crises by involving the stakeholders, corporate for funding, students and teachers for mentoring. 

Key words: Global employment report, failed to create decent work, resilience, SIFE, ‘Bharat empowered’.