"In 2018, Alpesh Bhai enrolled his three-year-old daughter in an English-language private school in Surat. This was something he never imagined possible while growing up in his village in the Indian state of Gujarat, where his family survived on small fields of fennel, castor and cumin, with their earnings barely enough to cover basic needs. He had studied in a public school, where, he recalled, teachers were a rarity, and English almost didn't exist."
"His finances improved once he joined the diamond cutting industry in Surat, a city perched along India's Arabian Sea coast, where nearly 80 percent of the world's diamonds are cut and polished. Monthly earnings of 35,000 rupees ($390) for the first time brought Alpesh a sense of stability, and with it, the means to give his children the education he never had. I was determined that at least my children would get the kind of private education I was deprived of, he said."
"But that dream did not last. The first disruption to business came with Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The sanctions on Russia hurt supply chains, as India sourced at least a third of its raw diamonds from Russia, leading to layoffs. Alpesh's earnings fell to 18,000 rupees ($200) a month, then to 20,000 rupees ($222). Soon, the 25,000 rupees ($280) annual school fee became unmanageable."
A worker from Gujarat achieved stable earnings after joining Surat's diamond cutting industry, enabling private English education for his children. Global events disrupted that stability: Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine and ensuing sanctions damaged raw-diamond supply chains because India sourced about a third of its rough diamonds from Russia. The disruptions triggered layoffs and steep income declines for many cutters and polishers. Monthly wages dropped sharply, making previously affordable annual private school fees unaffordable. Families responded by moving children back to public schools amid worsening demand and further tariff-driven pressures on the trade.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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