Human Trafficking
Human trafficking is the illicit and clandestine transfer of person by coercions or by force with an intention to assimilate them into forced labor, sex and adoption. Globalization has created an urgent need for human labor that has turned Indian into one of the top Asian transit and destination countries for human traffickers. There are about 2.3 million prostitutes in India with Bombay city accounting for 100,000 prostitutes attached to about 12,000 brothels. A survey by Pawan Surana indicates that 20% of the women in prostitution are below the age of 18 years and most of them are forced into the vice by human traffickers (2001). As a destination, India hosts over 20,000 Nepali girls distributed in 2000 brothels in New Delhi and Bombay. Seemingly, the young girls are either kidnapped, sold or handed over by their parents and relatives with the hope of gaining work in order to support their poor families back at home. Data indicate that 60% of the prostitutes in India brothels lived below the poverty line.
Further, class caste and stratification is a major concern in India whereby the backwards classes comprise more than 70% of the prostitutes. Moreover, due to globalization and universality of education as a condition for economic viability, over 50% of the human trafficked cases are shrouded in illiteracy. Poverty among the Indian classes contributes to human trafficking whereby parents and relatives sell their children for profit. Globalization forces of recession have had dire impacts in the Indian economy such that the worst hit populations by inflation, high food prices and lifestyle costs has forced many of the low earning people to consider human trafficking as a source of income to eradicate poverty. Further, poor agriculture yields have pushed down about 89% of Indian women who desperately depend of rural small scale faming to manage family economies; the situation has been aggravated by the global melt down that has subsequently depressed food and agricultural produce prices thus undermining small scale farmers economic status besides leading to closure of small scale industries a situation that has led to increased the rate of poverty that has proportional increase the level of human trafficking in order to counter the effect (Surana, 2001). Since globalization is discriminative against unskilled workers that form the majority block in India, girls from such families are literally forced to seek alternative unskilled employment.
Unfortunately, with the increase in the cost of sustaining life, alternative employment in the unskilled sector has lost value thereby forcing girls into prostitution while others are sold at minimum prices of 400 rupees to an average maximum of 70,000 rupees (Surana, 2001). Globalization has triggered a boom in transport sector, tourism and hotel industries that have in return created a high demand for sex girls in India. Therefore, though Globalization has brought about increase in skilled economies, the high number of Indian women and girls who remain illiterate and thus discriminated by globalization are likely to be human trafficked and forced into either labor or sex and prostitution as a result of lack of unskilled employment opportunities. One solution would be to preserve unskilled labor jobs by government and central bank of India supporting small scale farming through incentives and subsidies. The Second recommendation would involve the realization of the universal education throughout the Indian subcontinent such that all girls can become literate and be able to take up skilled labor jobs besides attaining creativity and inventions.
Drug Trafficking in Indian started way back during the colonial days when the British government introduced opium in the North eastern states of India. Opium is still planted in the district of Uttaranchal and used as a medicine for human and livestock. Culturally, the drug is used in celebrations especially in Rajasthan. Though, the government in conjunction with community organizations has tried to restrict the opium trade, cultural festivals in the east area of Arunachal Pradesh remain dogmatically controlled by the society that efforts to control the drug by the government have been thwarted. Commercial cultivation of opium poppy is the only form of commercial farming that is taking place in the North East India since other forms of agricultural practices remain essential subsistence and thus without much profit when compared to opium (UNODC 29).
In Arunachal Pradesh alone, cultivation of opium poppy is extensively mechanized in the Upper Siang, Lohit and Chanlang; in Khonsa circle the Tirap district leads; in Uttaranchal the two districts of Uttarkashi and Dheradun lead and lastly in Himachal Pradesh the districts of Kulu, Mandi and Kalpa produce the highest quantities of opium poppy plant. Mechanized opium poppy farming seems to have started in 1999 as a result of experiencing negative economic trends in these regions as a result of globalization. Equally globalization positively encouraged the farmers to put as much as 12 hectares of land into opium poppy farming in order to counter the high global demand for the drug. Destruction of the crop by police has yielded no change.
A total of Licit Opium farming for medical is allowed in India in accordance with the 1961 Single Convention. The three main areas that are mandated to cultivate the poppy plant are Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh that each have countless districts and villages land put under cultivation with a total of 105, 697 licensed cultivators with a viable production of over 1000 metric tons at 90 degrees consistency (32). The trade is controlled by the Central Bureau of Narcotics whose headquarters are based Gwalior. The Bureau is charged with the duty of licensing and controlling production. Economically, the globalization of Opium trade in India has helped reform the desperate subsistence agriculture in the named areas. Usually, after extraction of alkaloids and morphine the remaining opium poppy pods and seeds are crushed used to flavor food as a food condiment. Though the government controls the movement of opium straw that contains morphine that is medically approves as a drug, there exists trafficking of the substance through a black market that offers a better prices than the government set prices (UNODC 31).
The government price of opium at Rs. 720 to Rs. 2,100 per kilogram is unattractive when compared to the black market’s price of Rs. 15,000 to Rs. 20,000 that thus promotes international trade of the drug. Heroine and Methaqualone are manufactured in India and 90% of the manufactured drugs are exported into the global market. In 2003 a total of 1 metric ton of heroine was seized. The location of Indian between the Golden Crescent and the Golden Triangle renders the region as the best transits for illicit opium and opiates that is pumped into the global market (UNODC 33). Drug trafficking has generated high level development of underground banking systems that transfer money throughout the global international market thus evading taxation.
Positive Impacts of Globalization: Economy Growth and Poverty Reduction
India and China are among the developing countries that have rapidly expanded in industrial and economic growth within the last three decades years. Regardless of the economic global meltdown, the deplorable economic standard that India was in 3 years ago is quite insignificant when compared to the present economic growth as a result of globalization. According to Krishn Goyal, globalization in India has opened up international creation of employment opportunities through export and import of products and services (2006). India has experienced global integration of economies in the following economic sectors; manufacturing, pharmaceutical, communication, Information technology and international investment markets. Technology advancement has enhanced better lifestyle in India whereby Multinational companies have invested in the global strategic land in the government established export zones.
In 1991 when foreign reserves plunged because of currency inflation, India faced a dire economic crisis once it was computed that the country had lost approximately one billion U.S. dollars. Consequently, inflation rate increased to a rate of 17% forcing the country to incur heavy fiscal deficits. Foreign investors were threatening to leave the country. Therefore globalization led to economic reforms during the post 1991 post-impacts of economic liberation in the subcontinent. The government together with the private stakeholders agreed to devaluation of the rupee by 18 to 19% against major foreign currencies such as the dollar and the stealing pound. Privatization of investment policies under the guideline of IMF and World Bank were put in place to woo back foreign investors. Stringent industrial licensing regulations were done away with in order to increase industrial growth (Goyal, 2006).
The Indian cabinet passed guidelines that allowed Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) policies that allowed foreign investors own up to 100% of their investments in India. The key commercial sectors that were opened for investment include foreign ownership of 26% in national insurance companies and 26% of the defense industry. Tea industry, information and technology industries and real estate industries attracted u 100 % foreign investment (Goyal, 2006). India experiences heightened economic investment during this period that there were recorded boom employment opportunities for the skilled labor. In the 1970s, India’s economy grew at an annual rate of 3% but during the 1980s when globalization concepts were being introduced, the country managed to double its annual growth rate to 6% between 1992 and 1993.
Foreign investment increased the GDP of India such that more people invested in the telecommunication and real estate industry and other service industries such as the hospitality and transport industry that were in demand by the multinational companies (Goyal, 2006, p.3). Consequently, during 2003 fiscal year, India recorded an annual economic growth of 8% successful overcoming the 1991 economic depression. The service industry accounted for 57% of the GDP in 2004 when compared to 37.8% in 1984-5. While the service sectors contribution to the GDP increased from 38 to over 60 % by 2010, globalization negatively affected the economic viability percentile for the industry and agriculture sectors whose GDP output decreased from 26.1 % and 35.2% respectively in 1984 to 21.9% for industry and 20.5% for Agriculture in 2004-5 (4). In the same period, the FDI reforms increase foreign investment capacity from US$100 million in 1990-91 to 5536 million in 2004-5(Goyal, 2006, p.4). Compared to China and Brazil developing countries that experience a flow of US$50 billion annually at a rate of 5.5%, India experiences a flow of US$4 billion annually as a result of reform as a result of globalization.
India’s foreign exchange reserves that had plummeted by US$1 billion in 1990-1 because of introducing the open market policy increased in terms of gold, currency assets, and SDRs to US$141.5 billion as of March 2005. The Indian economy exports increased by 24% to US$79 billion while the foreign import during the same time increased by 32.62% to hit US$107 billion. The Reserve bank of India has always deliberately pegged the rupee too low against other foreign currencies in the foreign currency market. The move has helped India recover funds from the global trade to a tune of US$100 billion (). Generalization of food crops and grains has enhanced India attain food security since with increased globalization of trade and zero rating of tariffs and import duties on food items and edible oil has opened up opportunities for different investors while making life easier for Indians who now have a open access to all forms of supplies.
In 1998, 308,000 tons of cereals wee imported compared to 1.620 million tons in 2000. FDI investment policies have made it easier for entry and operation of transnational corporation in India, the industries have boosted grains and food import into India, on the positive side, these industries process food products, and equally export through the Ministry of Food Processing Industries. Consequently, the global import market accounts for over US$69.4 billion whereas the value added food products exported into the global market contributed US$ 22.2 billion as a prove that the global liberalization of the Indian economy was a better idea than possible tariff closed nation. The Western and particularly soft drink multinationals have gained high profit turnover from India’s young population whose diet consists on soft drinks, alcohol beverages, and mineral drinks. The soft drink industry alone injects into the Indian market about US$6.6 billion bottled drinks annually from a capital investment that is supported by a foreign investment policy that has helped bring in US$1 billion from foreign investors.
Conclusively, India has benefited as well has lost from globalization changes and reforms that are affecting the economic, political and social life of Indians. Skilled labor employment opportunities have increase over time with the services sector providing over 50% of the job opportunities. The Indian economy has expanded together with the GDP whereby the annual Indian economy rate increased because of general trade and commerce liberalization of trends such as foreign direct investment. India faces a terrible economic depression in 1991 as a result of weakening agriculture and low annual growth in the industries sector.
Credit shriveled up as a result of foreign investors transferred their business operating bases to China that had a higher inflow of international business due to low taxes and tariffs as opposed to India in 1991. Equally, negative attributes of globalization have caught up with the unskilled labor in the subcontinent whereby women and girls have become vulnerable to human tracking trade besides increased rate of drug trafficking and money laundering in the black-market. The Indian government is yet to tackle the issues of agriculture that I practiced by over 85% of the rural women as a source of their family income especially by protecting these vulnerable persons from the grave impacts of poor agricultural commodity prices in the international market.
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