1 00:00:11,320 --> 00:00:14,360 Speaker 1: Archena Sahai runs a twenty four hour helpline from a 2 00:00:14,360 --> 00:00:17,520 Speaker 1: tiny call center in the Indian city of beau Pal. 3 00:00:18,360 --> 00:00:21,800 Speaker 1: It's called Childline India and it gets hundreds of calls 4 00:00:21,840 --> 00:00:25,279 Speaker 1: a day horror stories from kids who tell Archina and 5 00:00:25,320 --> 00:00:28,360 Speaker 1: her staff that they're being abused, are forced to work, 6 00:00:28,960 --> 00:00:32,080 Speaker 1: or are in a number of other bad situations. When 7 00:00:32,159 --> 00:00:36,240 Speaker 1: Archina can, she sends in help, calling in government services 8 00:00:36,360 --> 00:00:50,879 Speaker 1: or the police helloa, what are you. When the pandemic hit, 9 00:00:51,200 --> 00:00:54,760 Speaker 1: Archina was prepared for the helpline to be inundated, and 10 00:00:54,800 --> 00:00:58,360 Speaker 1: it was. Some of the calls were what she expected 11 00:00:58,440 --> 00:01:03,360 Speaker 1: from already vulnerable kids. Others caught her by surprise. Suddenly 12 00:01:03,600 --> 00:01:06,520 Speaker 1: we started getting a lot of calls about child marriage. 13 00:01:06,800 --> 00:01:11,560 Speaker 1: Child marriage. These calls were coming from girls, sometimes as 14 00:01:11,600 --> 00:01:14,840 Speaker 1: young as twelve years old. They said their parents were 15 00:01:14,880 --> 00:01:17,480 Speaker 1: forcing them to get married, even though child marriage is 16 00:01:17,520 --> 00:01:22,759 Speaker 1: illegal under Indian law. Archinda tried to intervene, sometimes traveling 17 00:01:22,760 --> 00:01:25,960 Speaker 1: to remote villages with her staff. We tried to talk 18 00:01:26,000 --> 00:01:28,199 Speaker 1: to people and we said, keep why are you getting 19 00:01:28,240 --> 00:01:31,479 Speaker 1: such young girls married. Many of the girls they didn't 20 00:01:31,520 --> 00:01:34,240 Speaker 1: want it to get married. But when we tried to 21 00:01:34,319 --> 00:01:37,760 Speaker 1: stop the community people. They said, why are you? People 22 00:01:37,800 --> 00:01:42,280 Speaker 1: are stopping Let it happen. Across India, officials observed a 23 00:01:42,360 --> 00:01:47,639 Speaker 1: similar trend in marriages among teenagers and young adults surged 24 00:01:47,720 --> 00:01:52,040 Speaker 1: by as much as in some states. But Archinda noticed 25 00:01:52,120 --> 00:01:55,360 Speaker 1: something else. The calls from young girls to child line 26 00:01:55,720 --> 00:01:59,280 Speaker 1: would surge when death rates were highest. First logdown, they 27 00:01:59,280 --> 00:02:03,040 Speaker 1: were around trip before marriages will be stopped. The second 28 00:02:03,080 --> 00:02:06,400 Speaker 1: lockdown we found more of the marriages because there was 29 00:02:06,440 --> 00:02:09,920 Speaker 1: so much of detrit parents thing. Once we give the 30 00:02:09,960 --> 00:02:13,840 Speaker 1: girl married, at least my daughter is safe now. Archna 31 00:02:13,919 --> 00:02:17,560 Speaker 1: had a theory in the poorest and most desperate places, 32 00:02:18,280 --> 00:02:23,200 Speaker 1: marriage was seen as a lifeline. Dobless claims coming in, 33 00:02:23,360 --> 00:02:27,000 Speaker 1: I mean really jumping from the week before pretty brutal. 34 00:02:27,120 --> 00:02:31,000 Speaker 1: Three point two million record six point six million Americans 35 00:02:31,200 --> 00:02:35,000 Speaker 1: filed for unemployment last week. Engian working women abo the 36 00:02:35,040 --> 00:02:38,600 Speaker 1: worst impastage by the pandemic. We believe that we are 37 00:02:38,720 --> 00:02:44,280 Speaker 1: the impacting one girl, one family, one village, one country 38 00:02:44,600 --> 00:02:47,880 Speaker 1: at the time. Well, now to the billionaire boom. According 39 00:02:47,919 --> 00:02:53,160 Speaker 1: to Bloomberg, supriocht charters are up over three d and 40 00:02:53,200 --> 00:02:57,560 Speaker 1: a billionaire was created every six hours during this pandemic. 41 00:02:57,720 --> 00:03:00,560 Speaker 1: No one not waiting in line for a of the test. 42 00:03:00,639 --> 00:03:04,720 Speaker 1: With the public growth, it is time for a wealth 43 00:03:04,840 --> 00:03:14,920 Speaker 1: tax in America. Welcome back to the paycheck. I'm Rebecca Greenfield. 44 00:03:15,960 --> 00:03:19,480 Speaker 1: One of the biggest and most devastating economic stories of 45 00:03:19,520 --> 00:03:24,640 Speaker 1: the pandemic has been how it just decimated women. Women 46 00:03:25,240 --> 00:03:29,000 Speaker 1: are more likely to face unemployment. Right now, the economy 47 00:03:29,040 --> 00:03:32,120 Speaker 1: is still bouncing back from the pandemic, but for working 48 00:03:32,160 --> 00:03:35,440 Speaker 1: women and mothers, it's a slow climb. This doesn't board 49 00:03:35,560 --> 00:03:38,280 Speaker 1: very good for the future. As things have started to 50 00:03:38,320 --> 00:03:41,360 Speaker 1: open up, the big question is when and how will 51 00:03:41,440 --> 00:03:46,160 Speaker 1: women recover. In India, things don't look good. Even before 52 00:03:46,200 --> 00:03:49,240 Speaker 1: the pandemic, it had one of the lowest labor force 53 00:03:49,320 --> 00:03:56,040 Speaker 1: participation rates for women. Just by March that fell to 54 00:03:56,120 --> 00:04:00,520 Speaker 1: less than ten This would be bad news anywhere. Getting 55 00:04:00,520 --> 00:04:04,720 Speaker 1: more people in the workforce helps economies grow, but the 56 00:04:04,760 --> 00:04:10,520 Speaker 1: scale is particularly stunning in India. Economists estimate that a 57 00:04:10,640 --> 00:04:14,800 Speaker 1: female employment were brought on par with male employment, India's 58 00:04:14,800 --> 00:04:18,599 Speaker 1: gross domestic product could expand by almost a third. But 59 00:04:18,720 --> 00:04:23,000 Speaker 1: encouraging Indian women to work starts by prioritizing school and 60 00:04:23,120 --> 00:04:27,360 Speaker 1: career over an early marriage. In some parts of the country, 61 00:04:27,720 --> 00:04:31,840 Speaker 1: that campaign starts with girls as young as twelve. Archana Chaudhry, 62 00:04:31,920 --> 00:04:39,080 Speaker 1: a reporter in Bloomberg's New Delhi bureau, has the story. 63 00:04:41,640 --> 00:04:45,480 Speaker 1: Every morning, more than two thousand girls traveled to the 64 00:04:45,560 --> 00:04:50,480 Speaker 1: Paddi Educational Society. It's in the banks of the Ganges 65 00:04:50,720 --> 00:04:57,680 Speaker 1: in the town of Badadadadi means great grandfather, great grandmother, 66 00:04:58,360 --> 00:05:02,479 Speaker 1: calling back to tradition, but the campus is actually modern 67 00:05:03,279 --> 00:05:08,039 Speaker 1: with computer labs and basketball cords. Since two thousand, the 68 00:05:08,080 --> 00:05:10,960 Speaker 1: school has tried to create opportunities for girls in the 69 00:05:11,000 --> 00:05:14,839 Speaker 1: surrounding villages. This is it comes a bit of pocket 70 00:05:14,880 --> 00:05:18,000 Speaker 1: of in there. Most families earn a few dollars that 71 00:05:18,080 --> 00:05:23,000 Speaker 1: they're working as farmers. One room hugs are common. A 72 00:05:23,080 --> 00:05:26,320 Speaker 1: single water buffalo might be a family's most valuable possession. 73 00:05:27,920 --> 00:05:30,280 Speaker 1: For many of these families, girls can be seen as 74 00:05:30,279 --> 00:05:36,039 Speaker 1: a financial burden, another amount to feed. That's where Paddada 75 00:05:36,080 --> 00:05:40,039 Speaker 1: Padad comes in. It's goal is to keep girls in 76 00:05:40,080 --> 00:05:44,200 Speaker 1: school against cultural forces that would have them get married 77 00:05:44,240 --> 00:05:49,040 Speaker 1: in their teens. To date, more than three d students 78 00:05:49,040 --> 00:05:52,599 Speaker 1: have graduated and gone on to lucrative jobs in I 79 00:05:53,040 --> 00:05:56,440 Speaker 1: or the government. When I visited the campus on a 80 00:05:56,480 --> 00:05:59,680 Speaker 1: recent day, one of the first signs I saw read 81 00:06:00,800 --> 00:06:05,680 Speaker 1: I will select my future husband. Before the day began, 82 00:06:06,240 --> 00:06:10,360 Speaker 1: students gathered in the courtyard. They sang in old Bollywood 83 00:06:10,440 --> 00:06:14,640 Speaker 1: hymn about walking on the side of righteousness. They decided 84 00:06:14,680 --> 00:06:18,880 Speaker 1: the Indian national anthem, and then together they made a promise, 85 00:06:24,240 --> 00:06:32,839 Speaker 1: Very harry, it is I pledge that I will not 86 00:06:33,000 --> 00:06:38,200 Speaker 1: marry before I'm twenty one years old. There in that courtyard, 87 00:06:38,640 --> 00:06:41,800 Speaker 1: that's where I met Mother Shama. She was smiling and 88 00:06:41,920 --> 00:06:45,800 Speaker 1: chatting with students. She has worked as a Hindi teacher 89 00:06:45,920 --> 00:06:49,719 Speaker 1: at Padada Padadi for more than a decade. She grew 90 00:06:49,760 --> 00:06:53,240 Speaker 1: up near the school in a family of educators. She 91 00:06:53,400 --> 00:06:56,919 Speaker 1: knows the complicated tangle of factors that hold women down. 92 00:06:58,640 --> 00:07:01,120 Speaker 1: Students at Padada pad they look up to mother, who 93 00:07:02,240 --> 00:07:04,680 Speaker 1: they see her as their guardian, as a kind of 94 00:07:04,720 --> 00:07:08,800 Speaker 1: surrogate mother. One student, a sixteen year old, said she 95 00:07:08,880 --> 00:07:11,840 Speaker 1: called motherho last year after her grandfather pressured her to 96 00:07:11,880 --> 00:07:15,880 Speaker 1: get married. He was worried he might get sick during 97 00:07:15,880 --> 00:07:18,720 Speaker 1: the pandemic and not live to see it. She spoke 98 00:07:18,760 --> 00:07:21,480 Speaker 1: to me during her lunch break in a small classroom 99 00:07:21,920 --> 00:07:26,320 Speaker 1: as other students shuffled around the hallway. There I was 100 00:07:26,480 --> 00:07:30,440 Speaker 1: very upset. I couldn't focus on anything. So I told 101 00:07:30,520 --> 00:07:33,280 Speaker 1: ma'am that my folks are pushing me to get married 102 00:07:33,560 --> 00:07:37,040 Speaker 1: and I want to study. She said, I will come 103 00:07:37,080 --> 00:07:39,920 Speaker 1: and talk with them. They cannot force you to get married. 104 00:07:40,440 --> 00:07:44,080 Speaker 1: She came home and spoke to my grandfather. I also 105 00:07:44,160 --> 00:07:47,400 Speaker 1: told him that I want to study, that I want 106 00:07:47,400 --> 00:07:51,240 Speaker 1: to join the army. After all our efforts. He agreed. 107 00:07:52,080 --> 00:07:55,320 Speaker 1: But Madhu Sharma told me, but Dadda Padadi's mission has 108 00:07:55,360 --> 00:07:59,040 Speaker 1: become harder during the pandemic, when girls could no longer 109 00:07:59,080 --> 00:08:02,840 Speaker 1: rely on the protect the bubble of the school. Administrators 110 00:08:02,840 --> 00:08:06,120 Speaker 1: purchased tablets for older students to ease the transition to 111 00:08:06,240 --> 00:08:10,840 Speaker 1: remote learning, and the school appointed teachers to visit villagers 112 00:08:10,880 --> 00:08:14,800 Speaker 1: to collect assignments since most students did not have regular 113 00:08:14,840 --> 00:08:19,120 Speaker 1: internet access or even phones. But as the lockdown went on, 114 00:08:20,160 --> 00:08:24,440 Speaker 1: girls found ways to call mother. They were tearful and panicked. 115 00:08:25,560 --> 00:08:27,320 Speaker 1: They told her their parents who are trying to get 116 00:08:27,320 --> 00:08:29,960 Speaker 1: them married. Mother, who spoke to the girl's parents on 117 00:08:30,040 --> 00:08:34,040 Speaker 1: their behalf part of her job is to dissuade them 118 00:08:34,080 --> 00:08:38,040 Speaker 1: from following through with weddings. Families told her they had 119 00:08:38,080 --> 00:08:42,679 Speaker 1: no other option. They worried that Grandma would get sick 120 00:08:43,040 --> 00:08:46,440 Speaker 1: and not leave to see an exchange of vows. Money 121 00:08:46,559 --> 00:08:52,400 Speaker 1: was also a factor. Restrictions and gatherings meant families could 122 00:08:52,440 --> 00:08:55,760 Speaker 1: avoid the massive multi day weddings in favor of smallest 123 00:08:55,800 --> 00:08:59,679 Speaker 1: ceremonies at home. There was also less pressure to be 124 00:08:59,840 --> 00:09:04,920 Speaker 1: a large dowry. Since most businesses shut, brides had an 125 00:09:04,960 --> 00:09:08,640 Speaker 1: easy excuse not to buy gifts for the groom's extended family. 126 00:09:09,360 --> 00:09:12,920 Speaker 1: The tradition is illegal, but still coming across in there 127 00:09:13,480 --> 00:09:18,120 Speaker 1: getting lockdown. During the lockdown, people thought that since children 128 00:09:18,120 --> 00:09:21,240 Speaker 1: weren't going to school, we wouldn't find out what's going 129 00:09:21,280 --> 00:09:25,760 Speaker 1: on for the students at Dada Padadi. The consequences of 130 00:09:25,760 --> 00:09:30,720 Speaker 1: getting married before they finished school are especially pronounced. When 131 00:09:30,720 --> 00:09:34,120 Speaker 1: a woman marries, she typically moves in with her husband 132 00:09:34,200 --> 00:09:38,800 Speaker 1: and in laws. Mother said, women become dependent and lose 133 00:09:38,840 --> 00:09:43,760 Speaker 1: ownership over their lives. A middle class woman in India 134 00:09:43,800 --> 00:09:46,199 Speaker 1: doesn't have a home to call her own. At the 135 00:09:46,280 --> 00:09:51,319 Speaker 1: husband's place. For every small thing, the mother in law says, 136 00:09:51,480 --> 00:09:54,480 Speaker 1: is this what you've learned from your mother? And the 137 00:09:54,600 --> 00:09:57,920 Speaker 1: husband tells her to leave his home after every little tiff, 138 00:09:59,160 --> 00:10:03,199 Speaker 1: so that home isn't hers either in old age the 139 00:10:03,280 --> 00:10:07,760 Speaker 1: home belongs to the sun. In two thousand fifteen, Prime 140 00:10:07,800 --> 00:10:12,640 Speaker 1: Minister Moody started a campaign called Batti Bat, which roughly 141 00:10:12,679 --> 00:10:29,080 Speaker 1: means save our daughters, Teach our daughters manunder It's an 142 00:10:29,120 --> 00:10:32,720 Speaker 1: initiative aim at keeping girls in school and reducing sex 143 00:10:32,720 --> 00:10:38,000 Speaker 1: selective abortion. The government has also tried to eradicate child marriage. 144 00:10:38,480 --> 00:10:41,920 Speaker 1: Last year, Movies administrations passed a proposal to raise the 145 00:10:41,960 --> 00:10:45,240 Speaker 1: legal marriage as for women from eighteen to twenty one, 146 00:10:45,679 --> 00:10:48,080 Speaker 1: which is what it is for men. But in many 147 00:10:48,160 --> 00:10:52,640 Speaker 1: villages the national laws are abstract and far away. Local 148 00:10:52,720 --> 00:10:56,960 Speaker 1: customs are set and enforced by local punch arts, which 149 00:10:57,000 --> 00:11:02,320 Speaker 1: is essentially a group of elders almost all men. And 150 00:11:02,360 --> 00:11:06,600 Speaker 1: while movies campaign to educate India's daughters received lots of publicity, 151 00:11:07,559 --> 00:11:11,240 Speaker 1: recent government audits found that much of the initiatives funds 152 00:11:11,480 --> 00:11:15,440 Speaker 1: remained unspent. I spoke to chargeon Joe's who manages the 153 00:11:15,440 --> 00:11:19,719 Speaker 1: Pa Dada Padi school. He said that initially when the 154 00:11:19,760 --> 00:11:26,320 Speaker 1: school is founded, administrators encountered resistance. Families didn't understand why 155 00:11:26,480 --> 00:11:31,400 Speaker 1: teachers cared so much about educating daughters. They will spend 156 00:11:31,400 --> 00:11:34,439 Speaker 1: on any amount of money on boys, but they will 157 00:11:34,440 --> 00:11:39,240 Speaker 1: not spend money on girls, even for food like milk. 158 00:11:39,360 --> 00:11:41,839 Speaker 1: If they are buying one litter of milk, and if 159 00:11:41,880 --> 00:11:44,280 Speaker 1: there are three girls and one boy, the boy will 160 00:11:44,320 --> 00:11:47,640 Speaker 1: get the major portion of the milk. He's a boy. 161 00:11:47,800 --> 00:11:51,199 Speaker 1: Girds are not supposed to how all these things, Chardon said, 162 00:11:51,720 --> 00:11:55,000 Speaker 1: Marriage is an intense pressure point for families in the district. 163 00:11:56,040 --> 00:11:59,640 Speaker 1: And while India's literacy rates arising and the number of 164 00:11:59,640 --> 00:12:03,640 Speaker 1: people being in absolute poverty has decreased, when it comes 165 00:12:03,640 --> 00:12:11,079 Speaker 1: to working women have lost ground. Mind cal Tranager Mazunda 166 00:12:11,520 --> 00:12:14,520 Speaker 1: dug a little deeper into the numbers. What did you 167 00:12:14,559 --> 00:12:18,560 Speaker 1: find drawn? It's interesting Archina, because what we're saying is 168 00:12:18,600 --> 00:12:22,880 Speaker 1: that female labor participation fell by about a third in 169 00:12:22,880 --> 00:12:26,600 Speaker 1: the years during the pandemic. In two thousand five, two 170 00:12:27,040 --> 00:12:29,760 Speaker 1: of women were in the labor market, and by two 171 00:12:29,760 --> 00:12:35,319 Speaker 1: thousand nine it dropped to around that's lower than any 172 00:12:35,360 --> 00:12:38,800 Speaker 1: other country in the G twenty except for Saudi Arabia. 173 00:12:39,360 --> 00:12:42,400 Speaker 1: As India's economy has grown, the women at the middle 174 00:12:42,440 --> 00:12:46,080 Speaker 1: and top of the income ladder have stopped working for them. 175 00:12:46,120 --> 00:12:50,200 Speaker 1: It's perceived as a marker of status. On the other hand, 176 00:12:50,320 --> 00:12:53,280 Speaker 1: women at the lowest rungs of society is still are 177 00:12:53,360 --> 00:12:57,920 Speaker 1: seen as potential earners. They often work menial or unpaid 178 00:12:57,960 --> 00:13:02,440 Speaker 1: jobs that are far from the former economy. In other words, 179 00:13:02,480 --> 00:13:06,640 Speaker 1: their labor isn't even counted. Rosa Abraham is an economist 180 00:13:06,679 --> 00:13:09,800 Speaker 1: at a zen Braimes University in the city of Bengaluru. 181 00:13:10,480 --> 00:13:13,840 Speaker 1: She said that either way, women have little choice in 182 00:13:13,840 --> 00:13:18,400 Speaker 1: the matter. It is the unfortunate situation that the position 183 00:13:18,440 --> 00:13:21,559 Speaker 1: to work is often not in the hands of the woman, 184 00:13:21,559 --> 00:13:25,400 Speaker 1: who said, it is negotiated by social structors, by patriarchy. 185 00:13:26,080 --> 00:13:29,839 Speaker 1: But the picture got even worse during the pandemic. During 186 00:13:29,840 --> 00:13:34,360 Speaker 1: the first lockdown in women were several times more likely 187 00:13:34,400 --> 00:13:38,280 Speaker 1: to lose their jobs than men. Rosa study which tracked 188 00:13:38,320 --> 00:13:42,319 Speaker 1: the career trajectories of twenty thousand Indians during the pandemic 189 00:13:42,760 --> 00:13:45,679 Speaker 1: found that many of the women never came back, so 190 00:13:45,840 --> 00:13:49,280 Speaker 1: women there was no return to work. In fact, what 191 00:13:49,320 --> 00:13:54,000 Speaker 1: we find was that if women lost work during the lockdown, 192 00:13:54,320 --> 00:13:57,640 Speaker 1: they were eleven times more likely than men do not 193 00:13:57,800 --> 00:14:01,960 Speaker 1: return to work. Rosa said things like increased domestic duties, 194 00:14:02,320 --> 00:14:05,839 Speaker 1: the lack of child care options, and school shutdowns all 195 00:14:05,880 --> 00:14:09,680 Speaker 1: help explain why women struggle to recover jobs and for 196 00:14:09,800 --> 00:14:13,520 Speaker 1: young girls who were pushed out of classrooms and into marriage, 197 00:14:13,960 --> 00:14:17,240 Speaker 1: their dreams of independence or a well paid office job. 198 00:14:17,760 --> 00:14:21,600 Speaker 1: We were replaced with what Rosa calls distress led employment 199 00:14:22,440 --> 00:14:25,440 Speaker 1: that means unpaid work in the home or taking care 200 00:14:25,480 --> 00:14:30,600 Speaker 1: of relatives. It's not that women are entering salaried workers 201 00:14:30,720 --> 00:14:33,760 Speaker 1: or as weege workers. They're not starting businesses. They are 202 00:14:33,800 --> 00:14:50,240 Speaker 1: simply entering into their existing family farm. Back at the 203 00:14:50,240 --> 00:14:56,160 Speaker 1: Padada Padadi Educational Society, Duma told me she understands that cycle. 204 00:14:56,360 --> 00:15:00,280 Speaker 1: Intimately before the Bandama, she said that school might see 205 00:15:00,320 --> 00:15:03,680 Speaker 1: only three child marriages a year. Over the past year, 206 00:15:04,440 --> 00:15:08,200 Speaker 1: Mother says she's prevented a dozen. She recalled a fifteen 207 00:15:08,280 --> 00:15:10,960 Speaker 1: year old who called her the peak of infections. In 208 00:15:11,680 --> 00:15:14,960 Speaker 1: one the girl was sobbing her parents had decided to 209 00:15:15,000 --> 00:15:18,680 Speaker 1: get her married, I say, Mother said. I went to 210 00:15:18,720 --> 00:15:21,880 Speaker 1: her place and spoke with her mother and father. I 211 00:15:21,920 --> 00:15:25,520 Speaker 1: first said, she's a small child and you don't have 212 00:15:25,600 --> 00:15:29,040 Speaker 1: to pay any expenses on her behalf. You're lucky to 213 00:15:29,080 --> 00:15:32,160 Speaker 1: have found a school where all you have to do 214 00:15:32,200 --> 00:15:35,600 Speaker 1: is send her there, So why are you snatching away 215 00:15:35,600 --> 00:15:39,120 Speaker 1: her dreams? Mother told me she stopped this marriage after 216 00:15:39,200 --> 00:15:45,160 Speaker 1: one conversation, but others a trick here. Sometimes she has 217 00:15:45,200 --> 00:15:48,240 Speaker 1: to go to the police or a district magistrate for help. 218 00:15:48,880 --> 00:15:52,480 Speaker 1: In one instance, a family refused to reconsider its plans 219 00:15:52,520 --> 00:15:55,560 Speaker 1: to marry off their fourteen year old. The school could 220 00:15:55,600 --> 00:15:58,840 Speaker 1: go to the government's child welfare office, but they would 221 00:15:58,880 --> 00:16:03,160 Speaker 1: need proof. They came up with a plan. The girl 222 00:16:03,200 --> 00:16:05,520 Speaker 1: would hide a copy of the wedding invitation in the 223 00:16:05,560 --> 00:16:08,800 Speaker 1: folds of her ka or a tunic and pass it 224 00:16:08,800 --> 00:16:10,960 Speaker 1: on to another student, who would bring it to mother 225 00:16:10,960 --> 00:16:15,400 Speaker 1: who soon after Mother who got a call from a 226 00:16:15,440 --> 00:16:19,240 Speaker 1: young man who refused to give his name. He told 227 00:16:19,280 --> 00:16:22,360 Speaker 1: mother who he had regardings of her phone conversations with 228 00:16:22,400 --> 00:16:28,360 Speaker 1: a girl. Ah, he said, madam, this is not a 229 00:16:28,360 --> 00:16:30,960 Speaker 1: good thing that you have done. He said the family 230 00:16:31,080 --> 00:16:34,640 Speaker 1: was backed into a corner, that they've been preparing for 231 00:16:34,640 --> 00:16:37,600 Speaker 1: the wedding, and her meddling would bring shame to the family. 232 00:16:39,000 --> 00:16:42,240 Speaker 1: He threatened to blackmail her and turned the community against 233 00:16:42,280 --> 00:16:48,640 Speaker 1: her if she continued. He said she'd regretted. Ah. He said, 234 00:16:49,000 --> 00:16:50,880 Speaker 1: you are going to find out in a few days 235 00:16:51,160 --> 00:16:54,440 Speaker 1: who I am and how strong I am. Mother, who 236 00:16:54,480 --> 00:16:58,240 Speaker 1: was used to death threats. In one instance, a family 237 00:16:58,280 --> 00:17:02,240 Speaker 1: had threatened to shoot her. This time, she wondered if 238 00:17:02,240 --> 00:17:05,520 Speaker 1: the entire village would come after her. When she went 239 00:17:05,600 --> 00:17:08,359 Speaker 1: to the police station, Mother said, officers told her not 240 00:17:08,440 --> 00:17:12,119 Speaker 1: to worry. The next day, the young man called again, 241 00:17:12,560 --> 00:17:16,080 Speaker 1: and mother Who drew him into a conversation. She was 242 00:17:16,119 --> 00:17:19,080 Speaker 1: surprised by what she learned. He was just a teenager 243 00:17:19,160 --> 00:17:27,639 Speaker 1: himself a farmer. He hadn't even finished school. I said, child, 244 00:17:28,080 --> 00:17:30,640 Speaker 1: then it is not your fault. I spoke to him 245 00:17:30,680 --> 00:17:33,960 Speaker 1: with a smile and told him that the problem was 246 00:17:34,160 --> 00:17:38,400 Speaker 1: his lack of education. After that call, Mother told me 247 00:17:38,640 --> 00:17:41,720 Speaker 1: the threats stopped. The wedding was called off, and the 248 00:17:41,760 --> 00:17:46,160 Speaker 1: girl went back to school. Of fourteen weddings planned during 249 00:17:46,160 --> 00:17:51,040 Speaker 1: the pandemic, Mother Who and other administrators stopped all but two. 250 00:17:52,560 --> 00:17:55,560 Speaker 1: Many girls, say Mother Who gives them permission to imagine 251 00:17:55,560 --> 00:17:59,320 Speaker 1: a different future for themselves, to strive for a life 252 00:17:59,359 --> 00:18:03,600 Speaker 1: of independent and freedom, to seek out fulfilling jobs, and 253 00:18:03,680 --> 00:18:08,000 Speaker 1: to live with dignity. When girls stole their education at 254 00:18:08,000 --> 00:18:14,879 Speaker 1: Badada Badai, they each blunt is sattling on campus. Years later, indeed, 255 00:18:14,880 --> 00:18:19,159 Speaker 1: it turn as women with their own paychecks. Those seedlings 256 00:18:19,160 --> 00:18:33,920 Speaker 1: have sprouted into trees. The Pardada Partory School can't alone 257 00:18:34,000 --> 00:18:37,240 Speaker 1: fight the weight of the cultural expectations that millions of 258 00:18:37,280 --> 00:18:41,240 Speaker 1: Indian women face. Prime Minister Moti is trying to push 259 00:18:41,240 --> 00:18:45,520 Speaker 1: India into what he calls um writ call or a 260 00:18:45,600 --> 00:18:49,080 Speaker 1: golden era of growth. But in April of this year, 261 00:18:49,400 --> 00:18:53,480 Speaker 1: India reached a disconcerting milestone. The majority of its nine 262 00:18:54,000 --> 00:18:57,960 Speaker 1: million person labor force had stopped looking for jobs Entirely. 263 00:18:58,800 --> 00:19:03,120 Speaker 1: Many of those people we're women. Next week, on the Paycheck, 264 00:19:03,280 --> 00:19:07,080 Speaker 1: we had to a place that's owned almost entirely by 265 00:19:07,119 --> 00:19:10,320 Speaker 1: one man. One of my biggest fears is that the 266 00:19:10,359 --> 00:19:14,000 Speaker 1: people of this community will be the ones that would 267 00:19:14,000 --> 00:19:17,000 Speaker 1: be caring for the elite rich that can't afford to 268 00:19:17,040 --> 00:19:20,200 Speaker 1: actually live here one day. And that's our full purpose. 269 00:19:20,880 --> 00:19:23,720 Speaker 1: Thanks for listening to the Paycheck. If you like our show, 270 00:19:23,840 --> 00:19:26,080 Speaker 1: please head on over to Apple Podcasts or where ever 271 00:19:26,119 --> 00:19:29,880 Speaker 1: you listen to podcasts to rate, review and subscribe. This 272 00:19:29,920 --> 00:19:33,480 Speaker 1: episode was hosted by me Rebecca Greenfield and reported by 273 00:19:33,560 --> 00:19:37,159 Speaker 1: Archana Chaudrey and Rona Joy at Mazoomdar. It was edited 274 00:19:37,160 --> 00:19:40,440 Speaker 1: by Kai Schultz and Janet Paskin, with help from Francesca Levi, 275 00:19:40,680 --> 00:19:43,959 Speaker 1: Rakhia Soluja, and Met We also had editing help from 276 00:19:44,040 --> 00:19:48,160 Speaker 1: Danielle Balbi, Shelly Banjo, Kristin V. Brown, Gilda de Carly, 277 00:19:48,440 --> 00:19:52,280 Speaker 1: Nicole Flato, and Elisa McDonald. This episode was produced by 278 00:19:52,280 --> 00:19:55,800 Speaker 1: Gilda de Carly and sound engineered by Matt Guime. Our 279 00:19:55,800 --> 00:19:59,440 Speaker 1: original music is by Leo Sidrin. The voiceovers you heard 280 00:19:59,440 --> 00:20:04,160 Speaker 1: were by Marry Joseph and Tamina Balvarda mooned special thanks 281 00:20:04,160 --> 00:20:08,320 Speaker 1: to Magnus Henrickson beginnin to Keeper, Margaret Sutherland, and Stacy Wong. 282 00:20:08,880 --> 00:20:12,600 Speaker 1: Francesca Levy is Bloomberg's head of Podcasts. See you next week.