Indian family in Dubai seeks financial help after father’s business fails

A seven-member Indian family including five young girls sit huddled together in a single room apartment in the busy Bur Dubai residential and business hub of the emirate.

The father has pulled four of his five young daughters out of school for not being able to pay fees consecutively for three years, after the readymade garments business of the Maharashtrian businessmen failed and accumulated huge losses.

The family is seeking financial help to return to India so that the girls can continue their education and the family is rescued from a mountain of debt that has piled up here in Dubai.

Pawar (first name withheld on request) from Mumbai, Maharashtra, is in the textiles and readymade garments business and has been operating his business from Meena Bazzar, Dubai, for 31 years.

He once had a booming multimillion dirham garment trading business, which collapsed about five years ago after a few of his trusted business partners allegedly absconded without clearing the payment for goods that they’d purchased from the now bankrupt trader on credit.

“I have a riches-to-rags story,” he shrugs. “Dubai gave me everything but I lost it. I am now in deep financial problems. I want to send my daughters safely back to India and continue their education. There is a huge fine too pending for overstaying in the UAE,” he says.

The 49-year-old Pawar tells Emirates 24|7 that he was unable to continue paying for the education of four of his five daughters aged 6, 8, 14, 15 and 18 as their pending school fees for three years amounted to more than Dh80,000. In addition, a ballooning credit from money lenders at astronomically high interest rates means he cannot afford to make ends meet anymore.

“I am not in a position to buy food for my family, pay the school fees of my five daughters, pay rent, water and electricity charges, or any other routine expenses. The Indian High School kept my children enrolled for three years, but after the pending fees accumulated to more than Dh 80,000, I have had to pull out my daughters from the school.”

All the five daughters, born and brought up in the UAE, have been good students of Indian High School, Dubai, with good grades. He said school authorities tried to help for three years, but things have gone out of their control.

The 18-year-old daughter in the 12th standard is the only one continuing her schooling. Speaking to Emirates 24|7, his elder daughter, the 12th standard student of Indian High School Dubai, says: “We are in a very difficult financial position and I am sad that four of my sisters had to be pulled out from the school. They are all good students and got 80 to 90 per cent marks in their annual examinations. I am still continuing the schooling with the help of the parents of a classmate, my best friend for six years, who volunteered to pay Dh15,000 pending fees.”

She wants to finish her schooling here and return to India to complete her higher studies, and then wishes to return to the UAE to find a job to help her family. “All of us, except my father, have our visas expired for three years and we are stuck here. Please help us to continue our schooling and go back to India,” she pleads.

Pawar’s wife is a worried woman, and had to sell her 2kg gold ornaments to partially repay the money lenders, who she says used to take Dh50,000 per month as interest for a loan of Dh300,000 that that her husband took about five years ago.

Due to non-payment of principal and interest, the loan ballooned to nearly Dh500,000. “I used to take Dh1 million financing from moneylenders, paying 5 to 10 per cent monthly interest depending on the urgency and requirement, to import garments from Bangkok, Thailand. For each consignment, I used to get commission and everything was going on smoothly till the global financial meltdown happened. A trusted friend and business customer from India, who was also doing garment and textile business in Meena Bazzar, absconded without paying a huge bill that he took on credit from me, leaving my business and family in shambles,” he says.

He also made some bad investment decisions during the period. Pawar sent a lump sum to a ‘partner’ in the UK to invest in hotels and some other businesses, and allegedly the partner cheated him. “I did not know that he would cheat me,” says Pawar.

“Everything collapsed like a house of cards, and I continued to spend whatever money I generated from the deteriorating business to pay my daughters’ school fees, house rent, food, shop rent and other routine expenses. I could not repay the interest regularly, leading to the accumulation of principal and capital,” he says.

From a daily collection of Dh6,000 from his outlets, the revenue has shrunk to about Dh200 to Dh300 per day, which creditors take daily, leaving the family with nothing to buy food, schooling for children, rent or other requirements.

Pawar tried to revive his business by selling his property in Mumbai, India, but even that wasn’t enough. “I sold everything in India to repay the moneylenders, but even after paying Dh 500,000 in interest over five years, my liabilities remain high,” he says. Pawar even had to serve jail time for three cases of bounced cheques.

“I had to go to Al Aweer prison twice in cheque bouncing cases. There are some more cases pending against me,” adds Pawar, who is keen that his family return to India safely. He has been suffering from diabetes and high blood pressure for 10 years, and his mental state has been stressful due to harassment from creditors.

“We have been helping this family to meet their daily food and lodging requirements. They had to change their flats three or four times for non-payment of rent and other bills. We give them food and grocery on a regular basis, because whatever money he earns from the small garment shop in Meena Bazaar goes directly to the moneylenders. I hope someone helps them to at least return home safely and continue the schooling of the five daughters,” said an Indian neighbour, associated with a charity group helping the Pawar family.

The distressed Indian family is on the verge of a severe crisis and are seeking help to return home safely. His local sponsor of three decades is not pressing for his payment for three years and Pawar is optimistic that the city that gave him everything will come for his family’s help in this hour of need and agony.

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