The middleman in India has emerged as an arguably indispensable player in almost all fields. From a student to a corporate or political honcho alike, they all need a broker first of all to get things started with convenience. A mediator or a meddlerIJ ANANYA BORGOHAIN studies the role and performance of these middlemen in varied sectors
Benjamin Disraeli, who had served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom two times, had once said, “It is well-known what a middleman is: He bamboozles one party and plunders the other.” It is intriguing that what the British politician had said in the 19th century still holds so true in contemporary times as well. In fact, the emergence of the middleman as a key player is more pronounced today than ever. More so in a country like India, the role of the broker has become indispensable as middlemen have infiltrated almost every field.
In our agrarian economy, the vegetable vendor or a fruit seller is perhaps one of the easiest targets of a middleman. So much so, that the FDI in India was seen to be a befitting answer to the manipulative brokers. Farmer suicides continue to be one of the most burning and horrific issues in contemporary India. The poverty stricken farmer in the hinterland, the naïve but ambitious fresher in young urban India, the enthusiastic writer, a helpless surrogate mother, or even in the much debated issue of arms dealing — the middleman has established himself to an extent that he is now imminent.
India’s surrogacy industry is considered to be 15 years old and churns $2.3 bn every year. As commercial surrogacy is still legal (although amidst the possibility of its ban soon following the Surrogacy Bill), surrogate mothers find it convenient to approach a broker to connect them to fertility clinics or clients directly. On condition of anonymity, a surrogate mother says, “I am 30 and have a daughter of my own. My husband is a daily wage earner and his ailing mother lives with us in Gurgaon. We are deep in debt and need money desperately. This is why I decided to be a surrogate for a childless couple in Delhi. I knew a woman who had done it earlier. She connected me to a broker who took me to a fertility clinic in south Delhi. The procedure started a few weeks ago. If I get pregnant, I will be paid Rs 10,000 every month till the baby is delivered.” She did not want to reveal how much the broker has charged from her for this arrangement.
Several activists have voiced their concern about the trend of turning women into baby-manufacturing machines and surrogate mothers have been said to be treated with medical negligence. After all, most of these are women coming from low income households and illiterate backgrounds. Allegations that they are injected with hormones, they are forced to lactate, their diet is forcefully changed etc have made commercial surrogacy a much discussed topic in political debates as well. And yet, brokers for it are easily accessible both through word of mouth as well as through websites. Many brokers charge a one-time commission from the fertility clinic, while many others charge a cut from the already dirt poor surrogate mother too.
It’s not just parenthood, brokers have used children’s careers and fundamental right to education as commercial gambles as well. In a country obsessed with studying medicine, engineering, MBA etc, the glory easily rests on the brokers. Many private medical colleges now have their own brokers, who officially represent the institution. Shaurya (name changed) says, “The capitation fee under the management quota at this medical college in Bangalore that I wanted to study in was Rs 1.4 crore. Of course, I could not afford it. The broker happily offered me what he called a major discount and brought the figure down to Rs 1.2 crore. According to him, he was doing a great job!”
Good education in India is a means of survival for the fittest, and people who promise to help students realise their goals are treated no less than angels of God. Except these angels charge a fee for their social service. It is a nexus of money-minded educators, brokers and unscrupulous administrators who trade seats to whoever shells out the maximum money.
The management quota generally is 20-25 per cent of the total number of seats for a batch in an institution. Usually, these colleges enrol students on the basis of academic merit and a State-fixed fee. The quota, on the other hand, is their source of heavy revenue from students who do not meet their cut-off marks. last year, students who had passed the medical entrance exam NEET could not make it to many private institutions in Bangalore because the authorities had set a cut-off higher than the NEET qualifying marks. This is horrifying because NEET is now the only Government criterion for students to enter medical colleges as the State-organised CET has been cancelled. The normal fees as set up by the Government for an MBBS course does not exceed Rs 30,000 per year. So, a student being charged in lakhs in unfathomable!
The middlemen make immense money by taking cuts from both the universities and students. They have, apparently, now also started persuading students of the 12th board to pursue a particular college or university and have offered them admission opportunities for a fee. Interestingly, in many cases, some of these brokers are former students themselves who had helped the institution get a few students for a commission of Rs 30,000 at the beginning. Finding the deal lucrative, they took it up as a full-time career. It’s scary to imagine what lies ahead for the next generation of students if the current one has turned education opportunities away from merit and attached to money. Worse, the middlemen are now a pre-requisite in most elite and private institutions.
Another sub-group within this is the so-called counselling firms that promise the students with the opportunity of studying abroad in the top universities around the globe. Especially in the urban and metro cities, these firms are known and pursued by students who are in their final year of graduation and would like to study abroad. Due to the unimaginable high percentage secured by students in the 12th boards results, many colleges have to set really high cut-off marks for their courses; because thousands of students with the same score have often fought for the same 30 seats. Consequently, many fail to meet the cut-off standards of several reputed colleges. For them, studying abroad is a better option. That is when they go to the counselling firms. These firms do not charge students but take a commission from the foreign universities. They help the students clear their IElTS and in the complex application process. Some help in the visa procedure too.
But there is more than what meets the eye. While some students mention that these firms have helped them reach their dream university smoothly, accounts are replete with these firms’ unprofessional and reckless attitude too. They may ask for documents, identification, essays or statements of purpose as long as 4,000 words anytime, sometimes even when the student is in the middle of her own college exams. Many believe that these firms have a shoddy understanding of how the foreign universities work and clumsily fill the applications for the students. It’s also too late for the student to dissociate with the firm because once her application is sent through them, the university does not accept a separate, individual application from the same candidate.
Vasundhara Chauhan says, “I applied to Edinburgh University in 2015 and my counsellor didn’t have a tie up with it so she wasn’t going to get a commission. When it was time to apply for the visa, she didn’t tell me the right amount to pay and I ended up falling short of Rs 40,000. She really wanted me to go to York instead because she gets a big commission from them. I re-applied next year on my own and am studying International Relations at the University of Edinburgh now and I am really happy. But yes, I did end up losing a year last time because my ‘counsellor’ thought her cut was more important than my future.”
But that’s not where it ends. Even after a student manages to graduate, living on her own is still a nightmare. Property dealers are a major rage in Delhi and as far as real estate is concerned, housing facilities would be arguably impossible without them. And that has come with its own horror stories.
Devangana Kalita says, “This was in 2012 and I used to live in a two room barsati in Guldasta Block, Outram lines, with my friend. When we took the place, the broker assured us that there would be no interference from the landlord. However, the landlady, who was an old woman, started harassing us soon. There were constant questions shaming us. Whenever any friends would visit, she would cut off the water supply if friends decided to stay over, accused us of running a brothel in her house and would bully the person who came to collect garbage to inform her if there were alcohol bottles in the dustbin. She began to repeatedly pass comments targeted at my North Eastern identity, saying things like, ‘Tum chinki logo ne Outram lines ka maahol bigaad diya hai.’ Then two months after we had moved in, she randomly increased our rent by Rs 3,000.
“The domestic workers who came to work at her house were terribly ill-treated too. They were usually young tribal women from States like Jharkhand, who were employed through labour agencies. They were kept inside the house, were not allowed to go out, talk to relatives on phone or given any money. Their wages were supposed to be paid in a lump sum after one year to the broker directly, so in case they run away, the family does not lose the money paid to the broker at the beginning! These were young girls, around the age of 18-21, who would do all the housework all day and would not even be given adequate food.”
Abhinandita Dev adds, “lies are a part of the business of property brokers, especially if the deal is to be done with a student. last year, a broker kept details about the brokerage to himself even after we repeatedly asked for them. He lied about the landlord’s residence by saying ‘paas hi rehte hain’, when actually he literally lived inside the same house separated only by a sliding door. The broker got us the flat by saying that the landlord had lived only a ‘foreign’ lifestyle and he is cool with everything. Afterwards, the same broker took part in the moral policing of a roommate because she brought a male friend home.”
So, from birth, to education, to shelter, to even jobs and basic survival, the middleman enjoys a monopoly that more frequently rips an individual of her fundamental rights. Brokers influence almost all sectors, from publishing, to acting to even arms dealing (the last one being illegal). In such a scenario, is the world moving towards honourable division of labour for making life convenient or making it cutthroat, ruthless and blinded by the lures of moneyIJ
ananyapioneer@gmail.com
(With inputs from Avantika Bose and Akshita Rawat)