
I need 20000 USD to pay my education bond - royunprofiled
My education (Bachelor&#x27;s degree) was sponsored by an agency with a term that I would have to serve them for a period of five years or break the bond by paying a sum of 20000 USD. Right now, I earn about 800 USD a month and the job is mind numbing. I have been serving them for about 15 months and would have to go on for 45 more months. How do save &#x2F; earn USD 20000 in the shortest time possible ?
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jsprogrammer
This sounds pretty close to indentured servitude. Are you in the US? Did you
come from another country?

I'd look into pursuing human trafficking claims against the "agency":

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debt_bondage](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debt_bondage)
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victims_of_Trafficking_and_Viol...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victims_of_Trafficking_and_Violence_Protection_Act_of_2000)

You might also want to check with the labor board in the state you live in, or
the US Department of Labor to see if the agreement is even legal. If it's not,
or the agreement is questionable (sounds like it), they can put pressure,
negotiate, or prosecute the agency on your behalf.

~~~
royunprofiled
No, actually, I am from India. I have checked with lawyers and the agreement
may actually not be legal, but I do not want to get into a legal mess, given
the current state of Indian judiciary along the lawyer's expenses, it may get
stretched for years. In the mean while, my prospects for higher education are
at stake as I have to save for it as well. Right now, I am looking for
somebody who could possibly guide me through a project, website or application
that I can possibly develop in the mean while and pay my bond in a year or
two.

~~~
jsprogrammer
Hmm, well I'm not familiar with India and it's government. Are there any
"watchdog" government agencies that handle violations of labor laws? If you
can get the government on your side you might be able to avoid lawyer's fees.

Have you already completed the Bachelor's program? What happens if you just
leave the agency and move somewhere else?

~~~
avinassh
Indian here.

> Are there any "watchdog" government agencies that handle violations of labor
> laws?

No.

> If you can get the government on your side...

This is possible, public prosecutor will be assigned. But the case will take
easily 4-5 years to come to a conclusion.

> What happens if you just leave the agency and move somewhere else?

Highly unlikely that agency may sue OP.

6 of my friends were working some companys and had signed 3 years bond. or
would have to pay about $5000. Four of them just left the company, no
notification or official resignation. Just, said goodbye. Other two cited
health reasons and said they cannot work for next 6-7 months etc. They were
let go.

I don't know for which agency OP works for. But I am yet to see/read someone
paying up for breaking the agreement/bond in India. Companies also wouldn't
want to pursue the matter further, cos it will cost them more anyways and
courts will drag the cases for years. So they simply let people go, atleast in
99% of cases. That's how it is in India.

~~~
royunprofiled
Well, the government agency involved here is the Department of Space,
Government of India. I am currently working for Indian Space Research
Organization and did my Bachelor of Technology from Indian Institute of Space
Science and Technology, Trivandrum, Kerala, India. My certificates and
transcripts are still held up and would not be released unless I clear my bond
or complete my tenure. If I leave without notification, the money would be
demanded from my surety, followed by legal prosecution if not produced. No
health excuses here either. And yes, the department will and has in the past
pursued such cases in the court of law and as far as I know, all of them are
pending so far.

------
abhishivsaxena
If you are working for ISRO, is the position in India or the US? If it's in
India 800USD seems quiet fair and not "indentured servitude" as a commentator
has suggested.

What kind of technologies excites you? Which city are you in? If it's
something like Banglore/Delhi, I would suggest going to some tech meetups and
explore what people are doing and which technologies are in demand in your
city.

I would suggest you to start freelancing, but pick the technology that really
excites you.

Considering that you would be working full time at the same time, that's
really important.

------
jacquesm
$800 / month is a bit on the low side I'd think. Ask for a raise and save the
remainder?

Try to find an employer that is more respectful of your time, and take out a
bank loan (interest rates are really low right now) or come to some kind of
pay-in-installments agreement with your current employer.

Finally, there is always the option of declaring personal bankruptcy but I'd
only use that if you feel that your employer has acted dishonestly, I see no
evidence of that.

~~~
royunprofiled
I intend to continue with my education and as such, banks are not willing to
finance my bond which would effectively leave me with no further source of
income. My pay scale is non-negotiable and my first review for appraisal would
be at the end of 2017. I tried finding alternate job opportunities but my
particular set of skills does not have a requirement in the current Indian
industry as of now, but I am still looking.

~~~
GFischer
Do you have "free" time after work?

If you have a decent programming foundation, I'd look into Android programming
or other reasonably-paying skillset that you could use after hours.

One of my classmates started doing Android apps, the first year she ended up
earning close to U$ 600/month extra, but now she makes U$ 2000/month extra,
for 20 hours of work each week or so. (I'm in Uruguay, U$ 2000 monthly is more
than a junior dev's salary).

I took the Coursera classes, and I'm going to release my first app sometime
next month :)

[https://www.coursera.org/course/androidpart1](https://www.coursera.org/course/androidpart1)

There used to be plenty of "income reports" here on Hacker News from people
that launch their own apps, it's certainly not overnight success, but the
timeframe is significantly lower than 45 months :) . Plus, if you get good at
it, you can do freelancing.

~~~
royunprofiled
Yes, that is an option I am considering. Thank you for the suggestion.

------
yogijp
Learn some skills (Java, SAP, Oracle apps), anything that is hot in India
right now and get you a job quickly. You don't necessarily have to be a
programmer, if you don't want to program, there are lots of other tracks which
don't need programming.

Get an entry level job in that skill, most entry level jobs pay as much as
what you currently make.

Once you have an entry level job offer, get a personal bank loan, pay off your
bond. SBI, HDFC, ICICI or whoever you bank with. Just google for "personal
bank loan india".

Once you have 6 months experience, you can move on to a senior level job,
paying a lakh+ per month. This will save you at least Rs.60,000 per month to
pay off the loan.

Of course, you don't have to pay off the bond. Just start working for another
company, find a cheap lawyer (they are a dime a dozen) and make your case if
they go after your surety. This will definitely take years and you can pay off
the bond leisurely. This may turn out cheaper than paying interest (maybe 13%)
on a personal loan.

~~~
royunprofiled
Thanks for the advice. I am currently looking into it. The back end
development seems to be in demand right now, I am focusing my effort on Python
with Django. In the meanwhile, if I do not pay the bond straight away, I will
incur an interest of prime lending rate + 3%, which turns out to be about 15%
the last I checked. Thank you for the advice anyway.

------
cpks
What agency? What job?

~~~
royunprofiled
Engineer at Indian Space Research Organization.

------
pavelsz
Start programming

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mc_hammer
get them to fire you?

~~~
royunprofiled
I cannot get them to fire unless on disciplinary grounds. Under performing
would just get me humiliated. And my place of work is a facility where I am
not allowed to carry my personal belongings such as my laptop and as such, I
can not work my personal projects in the mean time either. In case, I quit
without notice, my bond surety would have to pay for the bond amount.

~~~
mc_hammer
exactly get them to fire you on disciplinary grounds

also you can only work as hard as 800 is worth to you. and you can start a
business in your part time, try to find a buddy to code some apps with

~~~
gus_massa
Before doing that, read the paperwork carefully. It may have the standard
clause "All your work are belong to us". So the side project you do in your
free time is also property of the agency even if it's only tangentially
related to your work there.

Perhaps you may get an exception to contribute to a big open source project.
You will not get money, but you will get more experience and things to put in
your CV.

~~~
royunprofiled
As a matter of fact, I am not allowed to contribute to open source projects if
not officially approved (read : simply not allowed) and whatever I contribute
will remain with the agency I am working for and would be classified.

------
jdawg77
Take it from somebody who's shaken hands with the Indian High Commissioner of
a country, chatted up many members of the State Bank of India and who's
friends with a venture capitalist that takes investing in, and expanding,
domestic infrastructure for cleaner air, water and electricity very seriously.
He's setup many electric generations facilities, water generation facilities
and more.

Given my background with the Indian government (nope, not Indian here) you're
out of luck. The only way to "Save, earn, etc," with your situation is the
exact same as I went through as a poor American, owing (today, 15 years after
graduation) more than $35,000 dollars for my college degree. That's more money
than I earned in the last eight months - and, I have two children, the IRS
also claims I owe them about a ton of money, but thanks to finally catching up
on filings, it's a smaller number - or soon will be.

Friend, it is hard for people who know billionaires, who know people, shook
their hand and made them _millions_ via Ycombinator and others (I got turned
down, but, applied late).

The facts are the following: * Nobody owes you a living, period. If they do,
we're all standing in line and it's not moving. * Save money. If it's a Penny,
a Pound or a Franc, it matters. * Create works - code, write, etc - so when
and if you CAN publish, you're ready. Even if you develop skills that you
can't use, nobody can EVER steal what's in your head. :)

Finally on a very, very serious note. Everybody has a sob story. My mom's
currently a cancer survivor; my step dad has been on dialysis for a decade and
thank goodness they are poor enough the US government pays for their medical
treatment - or they'd already be dead. Life can be hard, it generally can
suck, but, you own what you know. Knowledge is power. Stop whining in public,
produce, learn and grow. Most of us, here on a "dot com," address are global,
or rather, "Not Indian," so won't be able to give you the best advice.

However, if the goal was, "Learn how to compete with the best & brightest,"
this is a fantastic place. Sympathy is hard to find, but positive, productive
suggestions - hard work, acquire knowledge - are the real keys to growth.

~~~
royunprofiled
Sir, I am not cribbing. Rather asking for help to focus my effort in more
fruitful direction, the foresight of which I lack, so that at the end of it, I
have a reasonable chance of coming out on the top.

