The “Brain Drain” situation: A concern for the Indian economy?
Oct 27, 2023
The talks of Ajay Banga being appointed the lead of the World Bank have stirred the global conundrum to a new peak. On one hand, the masses couldn’t be more overjoyed than to see their kin standing atop the pillar of success besides fellow Indian-origin CEOs including but not limited to Sundar Pichai, Parag Agarwal, Satya Nadella, Neal Mohan and Shantanu Narayen. Still, the impending question persists; if the people are so adamant on settling abroad, who’s going to bring about the next revolution to our homeland?
Many people go out and settle in foreign lands to fulfill their lifelong dreams of having a good standard of living. The brain drain situation has been customary yet it is a cause that demands further inspection and thorough study. This situation initially occurred when people from England started departing to other countries like North America after the Second World War.
The situation has now transformed with time and place but most of the conditions remain similar for the shift. Most aspire for a better standard of living and take advantage of reduced taxes, better education, and increased growth potential by intermingling with the right crowd for their perusal.
According to a recent report, about 10 million people migrated overseas from India between 2000–2020 issued by “International Migration 2020 Highlights”, a report issued by the Population Division of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) in January 2021.
Let’s take a look at the data that measures the amount of people who settle overseas. In a Lok Sabha session in mid-December last year, the Ministry of Home Affairs informed the House that 474,246 Indians gave up their citizenship from 2022 to 2020 which is more than 86% of people that left in the period 2017–19.
Approximately 8,000 high-net-worth individuals are expected to move out of India in 2022, according to the Henley Global Citizens Report which tracks migration trends across the world. Similarly, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) report published in February 2020 acclaimed that India has the largest high-skilled diaspora in the OECD area, with over 3 million tertiary-educated migrants having moved to developed countries.
The primary hub of immigrants is sourced in the West particularly the United States of America and central European countries, where apart from the Asian-Pacific countries, even the surrounding small countries gain purchase of strong education and secure employment. However, it also seems to be going down a steep decline after the massive hindrance seen by the Covid-19 pandemic where the immigration statistics plunged to an all-time low of 200,000 in the US before coming to a standstill owing to the fact of new variants being discovered after frequent periods. Aside from this, the Indian diaspora can be majorly witnessed in Australia with 23,500 Indian-born residents, followed by Canada and the UK. The UAE and Saudi Arabia are the top contenders amid the first choice of the Indian diaspora looking to settle in the Gulf countries.
These oil-rich nations present a good opportunity for both skilled and semi-skilled workers to earn a living which is partly the fault of reduced trade deficits and a weaker rupee. The secondary possible reasons for the same could be no taxes, less competition, and a grander sense of living.
The drawback of our education and political scenario is that it can’t keep hold of the best talent in our nation. One of the rudimentary reasons is that our country’s educational system is old, lacks creativity, and doesn’t indulge students for a significant amount of time. According to economist Shruti Rajagopalan, it is a “consequence of an education system designed for ‘selecting’ the best and brightest in an economy that is still too controlled and cannot create opportunities for its best and brightest.”
Many teachers try to be open with their work and decide to be indulgent with university students concerning their research projects. Where students in India are forced to attend classes in the wake of maintaining proper attendance, the students outside are drawn to the courses because of their spectacular understanding of the required curriculum.
The working conditions practiced here are mechanical, callous, and a complete no-brainer for people who are not willing to adapt to a growth mindset and decide to stick with what they know beforehand.
Moreover, there is an increased level of acceptance level in the developed foreign countries that seems to be in direct contrast with India which saw around 2900 communal riots in the past 5 years alone. An increased interference of government in bureaucracy also results in the citizens seeking a place where better living standards are present.
Better yet, there is still hope that eventually, a large proportion of people will come around. If the circumstances uplift towards better post-study work rights, scholarships, and better facilities coupled with a healthy environment, then for sure a handful of people might question their decision to go abroad.
For now, we can only observe the rapid growth of people onboarding with the idea of leaving our country and getting fazed by the flakiness of the government that only does something when dire situations start transpiring or when the citizens of the country have already lost hope and opted to move on to far better things instead of mending the commodity which has reached a stage full past its repair.
Resources
https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/1999/06/carringt.htm
https://scroll.in/article/1021175/brain-drain-two-in-three-indian-emigrants-are-highly-educated
https://www.indiatimes.com/thought-starter/great-indian-brain-drain
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/great-indian-brain-drain-jitender-girdhar-/
https://blog.ipleaders.in/slow-economic-growth-and-brain-drain-ahead-what-should-be-our-strategy/