MSIF team trip to India

MSIF trip to India

The Rights Lab is currently half-way through a two-year project, “Using Data Science To Transform India’s Brick Kilns”, funded by the UK government (Modern Slavery Innovation Fund). Four members of the team, Professor Doreen Boyd (Geography), Dr. Renoy Girindran, Laoise Ní Bhriain and Kelsey Carthew, travelled to India to meet with project partners, Volunteers for Social Justice (VSJ), Development Alternatives (DA), and UNDP, and a range of stakeholders to reflect on progress to date and refine plans for the coming year’s activities. Team members visited a brick kiln and met with current and former kiln workers in Punjab, and engaged representatives of relevant Indian government departments in Punjab, Bihar, and Odisha. All stakeholders spoke highly of the project, their engagement, and what it means for air quality and worker welfare in the brick kiln sector in India. Attainments are currently ahead of schedule in several areas and the team is excited to continue this work with our excellent partners in the year ahead.