Foreign Bound: Unfortunately Born in India
Saturday, February 7, 2009
My neighbor Mehta's son is in Dubai. He is a Chemical Engineer by training but having failed to secure a job of his line he started exporting readymade garments to Dubai and one day, we learnt, he has exported himself also to Dubai. Mehta claims his son is a Chief Engineer in Dubai while ever so knowledgeable neighbors inform he is only a mechanic. Nonetheless, he is in Dubai. Dubai to an aspirant Indian means filthy rich Sheikhs. Toffee to trousers, Mehta now uses everything Made in Dubai. He can talk for hours convincing us how bad Indian toffees and trousers are and how they affect user's health. To strengthen his argument he quotes an Indian medico settled now in Abu Dhabi. Welcome to the special class of society who think they are UBI's (Unfortunately Born in India) and have all praise for foreign land than its own motherland.
Once upon a time, when Gandhiji had to first time go to England, he had to observe very strict vows and even then he was declared an outcaste. Today Gandhiji is no more and value system of his time also is no more. However, different version of vows, in keeping with the times, is existing even today - I will amass wealth by hook or crook. I will marry a wealthy Firang and marry another docile Indian girl through ad to be my dame nay maid. Today if you don't have a brother or son in a foreign country you are looked down upon in society as if you are some sort of a sinner.
In my office there was this gentleman Burhanpurkar who was in the habit of introducing himself and in the same breathe asking the person whether he had been to any foreign country. If the reply would be affirmative he would heave a sigh and compare wretched India and Indians to great France and French, Japan and Japanese as the case may be. In case the other person has been less fortunate and not been to any foreign country Burhanpurkar would give a list of countries he had visited. Later I learnt he had been to a Railway project in Baghdad for three months.
We had a Professor, Deen Dayal Chaturvedi in our college. When he went abroad, he left his Dhoti and Choti at the airport itself. Ten months later Prof. Chaturvedi in a smartly cut safari suit got down the ramp. His newly acquired names DD and Chats. For few weeks after his arrival, we kept wondering why he covered his nose with a hanky most of the time. Later we heard him share with his close colleagues that pollution level in India has crossed the unsafe mark. A friend of mine within one week of his landing in a foreign country wrote to me to immediately send him six copies of the Gita and Ramayana.
He disclosed that wherever he went people wanted to discuss with an Indian about various episodes of Ramayana and tenets of Gita but he had not the faintest idea of either.Times have changed, earlier people went as far as Rangoon looking for greener pastures and sang about it. We had songs in our Hindi films:
"Mera Piya gaye RangoonWahan se kiya hai telephoon"(My beloved has gone to Rangoon from there he makes calls to me on telephone)
Today beloveds go to States and communicate through fax. Before India attained freedom , Indians were largely going to countries such as Fiji, Mauritius and Africa but such foreign jaunts were devoid of an essential element called 'glamour'. After independence shipload of people emigrated to England, Australia and Canada. Direct from Ludhiana to London, Ahmedabad to Ottawa and Kerala to Canberra.During seventies USA's seventh fleet sailed towards Indian ocean sending waves of 'states boom' to all over India especially to Yuppies and IITs. Every second Indian was busy filling up visa forms. US embassy became a holy place of pilgrimage. USA was the very paradise on the earth.A family friend of ours had gone to USA. He brought a helmet complete with in-built headphone transistor.
It looked so very similar to the one worn by Neil Armstrong. We were as impressed by the helmet as were by the piece of moon's crust exhibited at USIS Delhi. It was sent by Uncle Sam to poor Indians who had by then seen the moon only in sky or in the romantic Urdu Poetry. There was this popular joke during seventies - India will soon become USA - now - that Americans will move over to the moon and Indian property dealer and Colonizers will simply grab and occupy USA which will be lying vacant and unclaimed. We are champion in encroachment be it train berth, foot paths of Delhi, sea shores of Bombay, railway platforms and archaeological ruins.When the number of settlers acquired alarming proportion it became an eye opener for USA and U.K. resulting in more stringent restrictions.
They realized that otherwise Indians by their sheer strength will outnumber them and take over England. Our Paul is already there. Americans also got worried. These brown Indians together with red Indians will soon make New Delhi of New York. They implemented green cards with red vigor.The decade of eighties was dedicated to Dubai. Nurse, Doctor, Mechanic, Actors, all were off to Dubai. Free citizens of India were shuttling between Sahar and Singapore with the ease of going to Safal vegetable outlet in the neighborhood. Later we learnt they were mere carriers like the one we have on our bicycles on which things are carried to and fro. It was a sight to see them return. Hired taxi would take them straight from airport to the village, they belonged to. Oversized two-in-one music system, VCR, fancy garments, lot of gold and ready money. Whole lot of village folks would assemble to see the booty and sigh with envy. This money was largely utilized in building bungalows and buying bridegrooms.
All of a sudden, there was a steep rise in the rates of masons and bridegrooms.Often people are heard saying that Indians are indirectly instrumental in re-unification of Germany. When West German Government saw so many Indians settling in their country they thought it wiser to open up and embrace their own poor brethrens living other side of the wall. They hastily demolished the wall.Nineties have witnessed unprecedented influx of foreigners into India prominent being Michael Jackson, Coca Cola and AK-47 but then that is another story.
118 comments:
that was good humoric read. I hope that was humor only....
So far as I am able to judge, nothing has been left undone, either by man or nature, to make India the most extraordinary country that the sun visits on his rounds. Nothing seems to have been forgotten, nothing overlooked.
God forbid that India should ever take to industrialism after the manner of the west... keeping the world in chains. If [our nation] took to similar economic exploitation, it would strip the world bare like locusts.
In India, I found a race of mortals living upon the Earth, but not adhering to it, inhabiting cities, but not being fixed to them, possessing everything, but possessed by nothing
well written with punches of humor
India was the mother of our race and Sanskrit the mother of Europe's languages. She was the mother of our philosophy, mother through the Arabs, of much of our mathematics, mother through Buddha, of the ideals embodied in Christianity, mother through village communities of self-government and democracy. Mother India is in many ways the mother of us all.
We must force the government to stop the bird migration. We must shoot all birds, field all our men and troops... and force migratory birds to stay where they are.
that was good one
From the early days of European migration to America, in the 17th Century, the prototype of buildings was based on English precedent, even if mostly translated into the locally available material in abundance: timber.
Electronic aids, particularly domestic computers, will help the inner migration, the opting out of reality. Reality is no longer going to be the stuff out there, but the stuff inside your head. It's going to be commercial and nasty at the same time.
Electronic aids, particularly domestic computers, will help the inner migration, the opting out of reality. Reality is no longer going to be the stuff out there, but the stuff inside your head. It's going to be commercial and nasty at the same time.
some serious humor
Like an immense flock of chattering birds observing precise migratory habits, every Wednesday, just a few minutes before noon, they swoop down upon the midtown area.
“Without social union, political unity is difficult to be achieved. If achieved, it would be as precarious as a summer sapling, liable to be uprooted by the gust of wind. With mere political unity, India may be a state. But to be a state is not to be a nation and a state which is not a nation has small prospects of survival in the struggle of existence. This is especially true where nationalism - the most dynamic force of modern times, is seeking everywhere to free itself by the destruction and disruption of all mixed states. The danger to a mixed and composite state, therefore lies not so much in external aggression as in the internal resurgence of nationalities which are fragmented, entrapped, suppressed and held against their will
“Without social union, political unity is difficult to be achieved. If achieved, it would be as precarious as a summer sapling, liable to be uprooted by the gust of wind. With mere political unity, India may be a state. But to be a state is not to be a nation and a state which is not a nation has small prospects of survival in the struggle of existence. This is especially true where nationalism - the most dynamic force of modern times, is seeking everywhere to free itself by the destruction and disruption of all mixed states. The danger to a mixed and composite state, therefore lies not so much in external aggression as in the internal resurgence of nationalities which are fragmented, entrapped, suppressed and held against their will.
There are several reasons for the migration of Indian labourers to foreign countries,These include shortage of manpower in several foreign countries, better salaries and working opportunities for savings abroad,
There are no hard numbers on the extent of the crisis. The Indian embassy in UAE says 20,000 Indians have returned from that country alone in the past four months. But these include those who were anyway planning to return and others coming on leave. ‘‘Some of them have been sent back for the time being and may return soon,’’ ambassador to UAE, Talmiz Ahmed, told TOI. Sources in airlines say, across carriers, there has been a dramatic increase in bookings to India from the Gulf.
Of the 5 million overseas Indian workers, 90% have jobs in the Gulf and South-East Asia. Till early 2008, the Gulf was in midst of a construction and realty boom and had been attracting Indian workers. Migrations from India had increased from 4.66 lakh in 2003 to 8.09 lakh in 2007. But things have changed since.
As the recession spreads, also facing the axe are Indian professionals, technicians and low-skilled workers. Even those in sales and marketing have been hurt because they were mostly subcontracted by large companies which now look upon these staff as dispensable.
Indian workers in the Gulf contribute nearly 40% of the $27 billion in overseas remittances that come to India — accounting for 3% of India’s GDP. World Bank has said remittances generated by South Asian workers in the Gulf will come down by 9%. If the Middle-East economic crisis deepens, India faces a double whammy of dipping remittances on one hand, and jobless returnees flooding the domestic market on the other.
Kerala, of course, is likely to bear the brunt if things go from bad to worse. Remittances earned by Malayalees have fuelled construction, tourism and education in the state. In the past decade, however, many Malayalee emigrants had left the Gulf as labour laws there got harsher and the wage-expenditure mismatch widened. But that doesn’t seem to have dimmed expectations back home.
not all are same sir
Growing numbers of Middle East investors, especially the high networth individuals (HNIs) from the Gulf states, are investing in Asian emerging markets as part of their portfolio diversification
There is clearly a shift taking place in the investment trend in the Gulf. Prior to 2001, Gulf investors preferred to keep most of their investments in the US and Europe. Then came the big surge in investments within the Middle East region. Although the inward investments into the region continue to grow, there has been a growing number of investors taking exposures in emerging markets in Asia and private equity opportunities around the world
Although private equity is a relatively new phenomenon, he said the region has a big number of sophisticated investors who are keen to take advantage of private equity opportunities around the world.
Among the emerging markets, China, India and other Far Eastern markets top the investment destinations of Gulf Investors, while growth opportunities in Europe and US are also actively pursued.
There has been a significant increase in the risk appetite of Middle East investors with more seeking growth-oriented portfolios than traditional ones. While private equity and hedge funds are becoming popular, there is huge interest in Asian opportunities.
Real estate continues to attract a big chunk of Middle East investments in Europe and UK. "Within the Middle East, there is a huge demand for real estate in the private portfolios. This trend is likely to continue as regional economies continue to experience big growth and domestic liquidity
“There was this big skiffle craze happening for a while in England... Everybody was in a skiffle group... All you needed was an acoustic Guitar, a washboard with thimbles for percussion, and a tea-chest- you know, the ones they used to ship tea from India- and you just put a broom handle on it and a bit of string, and you had a bass... you only needed two chords; Jing-jinga-jing jing-jinga-jing jing-jinga-jing jing-jinga-jing. And I think that's basically where i've always been at. I'm just a skiffler, you know. Now I do posh skiffle,that's all it is
It is distasteful for me to go abroad for studies / jobs, staying away from parents, homeland, relatives, friends and experience of joy and togetherness during festivals, get-togethers and other occasions. My mom and even grand mother often ask me to go abroad, work there for at least three years, earn money and come and settle down here in India. Also there are few cases where parents send their children for their bragging. I wonder how they can do that.
Here my discussion is only about people staying abroad for a very long duration and settling there. Foreign visits to stay there for some time (max one year) and getting back to your homeland is the different case. Foreign opportunities will give exposure in many ways. I agree with this. But, always there is one question in my mind… Don’t we have enough opportunities for higher studies or jobs in India?
Past - People (not all) came from villages to cities for better opportunities all the way because there are no sufficient resources in the villages.
Present – There is a mad rush of people (not all) from cities and even smaller towns to go abroad for higher studies and better employment opportunities, more so in the last decade.
Future – How will the future be? Where will we go or what will we look at in the coming years?
Here are the two contexts:
Going abroad and settling down there for ten or more years. I don’t want to talk much about this group because I don’t know what makes them happy leaving their own homeland, parents, friends etc. For me, these are selfish people who care little for their family and friends. While saying this, I don’t mean that they have to live for other but intend to say that the knowledge gained and expertise gained is of no use if it is not shared with your acquaintances and utilised for the betterment of your homeland. People who have settled abroad with their parents is a different case, at least. But, how many of the Indians are doing that?
Studying in US and working there for few days and coming back to India and settling down here. Here I have a question whether one can get the time spent in studying, working, etc back to spend that time with and for parents / near and dear ones? I am talking emotional. I know that. But, this is the fact I am talking about.
A girl’s life starts with lots of burdens-begins with studying in school days, rushing up in college days, and pressure with higher studies, working for few years abroad, then marry some guy and go with him. I have a question here. Where is the time for a girl to have a pleasure in spending few hours of her life and when will she be a supporting hand for her parents’ who gave her life?
My sister, whom I love so much, has recently gone to US for pursuing her Masters degree. As she went there to fulfill her ambition of studying in the US, I could not stop her. But, I miss her soooo much. L I wish she comes back soon. Wish you my dear!
There are several push factors behind the exodus of Indian students to foreign countries. The international value of foreign degree, presumed high quality of the degree, scholarships availability, possibility of good saving after expenditure and high employability after the degree makes Indian students to choose foreign countries for studies. Generally middle class families sent their children abroad for higher studies. This may be for post graduate degree course and above. Upper caste families sent their children abroad for schooling and undergraduate courses
With the recession affecting the corporate sector and its spill over effect on the other social arenas, the number of abroad going students may come down in the near future. But as in other cases Indian mentality cannot be predicted that easily. It may work on the other way around. The Indian student community may take advantage the crisis and may go in huge numbers to break the historic records. If the tuition fees in colleges and universities are brought down due to the recession
There is also a threat that scholarships will be cut down and number of financial aids will be down to rock bottom. Due to the endowment fund cuts by the corporate sector to universities the latter may have to reduce the number of scholarships. According to The Times of India (14.1.2009 p.15) the Harvard endowment which was worth $36.9billion at the end of June 2008 is said to have come down by at lest 22% since then, and is expected to reduce further for the fiscal ending June. Yale univeristy’s endowment is said to have lost about a quarter of its value during the second half of 2008, from a high of $22.9 billion on June 30. Stanford university’s endowment which stood at $17billion in June –third only to Harvard’s and Yale’s – is also said to have reduced drastically.
thatwas good reading avinash but not true for all migrants
Dubai is a global telling tale as the World Worst Case Scenario in terms of numbers of migrants flowing into the city. It presents a polemic situation in which the managers and officials are working to keep the economy developing at a double-digit rate, while they are facing the risk of diminishing the rate of nationals in the city to less than double digits. In 2006, the city's population increased from 1.13 to 1.42 million: a whopping increase of 26%.
During the most recent amnesty granted to all illegal workers in the UAE, a total of 350,000 people opted voluntarily to leave the country. Dubai had the largest number of illegal workers. Not all of them left though; some 200,000 remain.
The city is a rich mix of multi-ethnic groups, all living and working with almost no ethnic tension. Dubai could be considered a model city in tolerance and co-existence.
How does Dubai pull this off? What do Nationals say and feel about such an experience and how do non-nationals see their role in the city? Does the Dubai experience have consequences for the way we view "Fortress Europe"?
Intellectuals sometimes say Western countries are hypocrites who extol free movement of goods and capital, but control free movement of people through visas. True, but our own curbs against Pakistani and Bangladeshis are no less stringent. Nor do our neighbours want migrants from India. Resistance to immigrants is near-universal.
The question remains, how many people would migrate if movement was free? One way of finding an answer is to look at migration between Indian states, which is not restricted by visas. Professors Mahendra Dev and Evenson (2003) have in a recent paper looked at such patterns.
The accompanying table lists net immigration or out-migration in the main Indian states, as enumerated in the 1999-2000 National Sample Survey.
This has many surprises. We see remarkably little movement out of the poorest states. The greatest out-migration is from Bihar, but only 3.1 per cent of the population. Almost 97 per cent of Biharis find it convenient to stay on in that slough of despond. In no other state is out-migration even 1 per cent of the population. Uttar Pradesh has out-migration of only 0.8 per cent.
A dirt-poor state like Orissa actually has net in-migration of 0.6 per cent. This is explained by the influx of Bengalis and Bangladeshis in the north and Telegu speakers in the south. Land scarcity has driven outsiders to encroach into forests, and this is one reason for net immigration into poor states like Orissa and Madhya Pradesh.
Another surprise: Assam is listed as having net out-migration of 0.5 per cent. How so, when the influx of Bengalis/Bangladeshis is a serious political issue? Obviously, the Bengali immigrants all claim to have been in Assam forever, and surveyors have faithfully recorded these lies as facts. Meanwhile, Assamese who have left the state tell the truth, and so the state is listed as having net out-migration.
West Bengal, another poor state, has 2.7 per cent immigration. This represents an inflow from even poorer Bangladesh. It would seem that Bangladeshis have less fear of expulsion from West Bengal than Assam, and so speak more honestly to surveyors.
Kerala, famous for sending its sons to the Gulf, shows net immigration of 0.6 per cent. This is mainly because the NSS data captures only migration within the country, not migration out of it. So the data leaves out the Kerala hordes in the Gulf. Nevertheless it is a surprise that fewer Keralites migrate to other states than the reverse flow. People are moving into Kerala from the poor rainfed areas of adjoining Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, both of whom report net out-migration. Trade union politics and Gulf money have raised the wages in Kerala so high that the state attracts labour from its neighbours.
The rich states of Maharashtra (4.4 pc), Punjab (2.5 pc) and Gujarat (1.9 pc) all have net immigration. The surprise is that the inflow is modest. Haryana leads the immigration table with 7.9 per cent, but this is a statistical distortion arising from the expansion of Delhi into neighbouring Haryana districts.
Mahendra Dev and Evenson find that migration does not take place from the poorest areas and poorest families. Better-off people from better-off districts are more likely to migrate, especially those with a tradition of migrating (who can tap into existing socio-ethnic networks at the other end). This is not unlike the migration pattern from Mexico to the US. The poorest people lack the information and capital to undertake migration, which is fraught with risks.
The bottom line: surprisingly few people take advantage of free movement. The biggest sufferers from western visa curbs are not India’s poor, but middle-class folk seeking green cards. Unsurprisingly, the most vocal critics of visa curbs come from this class.
THE lush state of Kerala in the south of India generates most of its foreign exchange either by exporting people or importing them. It earned almost 20 billion rupees ($500m) from foreign tourists in 2006 (the latest year for which figures are available) and about 245 billion (in the same year) in remittances from Keralites working abroad, 89% of whom go to the Gulf.
The state has an astonishing 24.5 emigrants per 100 households. Kerala’s per capita output is one of the lowest in India, but its per capita expenditure is one of the highest. (Gopinath Pillai, a Singaporean diplomat of Keralite descent, describes the situation like this: one poor fellow works three shifts in Dubai, saving every penny to send home, where there will be eight guys reading two newspapers a day and discussing politics.)
But the Gulf economies where most of these NRKs work are slowing. Some construction projects are on hold. As a result, Kerala may have to brace itself for a wave of reverse migration. At the recent Indian diaspora conference in Chennai, several speakers called on the government to set up a department for returnees.
If any place is a sweatshop, the Gulf is one. You'll notice the irony. Kerala loses when there are fewer opportunities in the sweatshop.
Another point to be noted: Political ideology in the state is overwhelmingly communist. Which could be another reason why nobody sets up any industry there
Copying a joke I found on the link you referenced, relating to Kerala's low per capita output:
"An elderly real estate businessman and his young protege are standing on top of a ridge overlooking a vast valley of undeveloped land. The businessman says, 'Stick with me kid, and someday that will all be mine.'"
Being a Keralite myself, I must admit Gopinath Pillai could'nt have put it better. Hopefully this kind of pointless social benevolence will come to an end with my generation...the saddest part is that the money being sent is always taken for granted and the hard work involved never appreciated
it was nicely written
A very thoughtful post i must say.. Very thought provocating.. I swear.. I dont know whats so much that these people hype about when they go to united states or any other foreign country for that matter.. Its all brain drain.. I liked the line that united states will be occupied by indians soon cause they all will be goin to the moon.. Great stuff.. Keep writing..
India was one of the first countries to respond to the demand for lower skilled labour in the Arab Gulf States following the economic boom resulting from the oil price hike in the mid-1970s. While the Gulf continues to be an important destination, other countries such as Malaysia have also emerged as destinations for Indian workers. In 2004, the number of workers who were given emigration clearance for contractual employment was just under 500,000, with almost 90 percent going to the Gulf States. The government aims to expand such overseas employment both in order to relieve domestic unemployment and augment remittances. In doing so it also aims to minimize problems faced by migrant workers in the recruitment and employment process.
With its well-educated and language proficient workforce, India is also a major source country for highly skilled migrant workers. The government is keen to expand this further and is looking to the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) as one of the ways to achieve this.
India is the largest recipient of workers’ remittances amounting to USD 15 billion in 2003. The government has taken a number of steps to attract remittance flows through formal channels and to develop instruments to attract investment from remittances.
The financial and non-financial (skills transfer) contribution of the Indian diaspora, spread throughout the world and estimated at 20 million strong, and its development potential, is now well recognized. The government has in 2005 created a new Ministry for Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA), to take responsibility for diaspora and international labour migration issues. Other migration issues of importance in India are irregular migration and trafficking, and given the size of the country, internal inter-state migration.
Academically and technically qualified experts emigrating to industrialized countries (Nearly 1.25 million Indians emigrated to the US, Canada, UK and Australia between 1950 and 2000)
Unskilled, semi-skilled and skilled labourers migrating to Middle East countries for undertaking blue collar jobs. (More than 3 million Indian migrants live in Gulf countries, with most of them coming from Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Punjab).
Students migrating to USA, UK, Australia and other European countries to pursue higher education
Internal displacement owing to political causes, including secessionist movements; identity-based autonomy movements; local violence, such as caste disputes and riots fuelled by religious fundamentalism and environment and development induced displacement. While the World Refugee Survey puts the total number of Internally Displaced Persons in India at 507,000, the Indian Social Institute in Delhi puts the figure at 21.3 million in its global survey of IDPs. Environmental changes and natural disasters such as floods and droughts have been reasons for displacement, affecting the populations of both flood-prone areas and excessively dry regions.
Advanced technologies in the agro and fishing sector have grossly depleted natural resources thus forcing most male members in the agro and fishing communities to migrate. Such migrant male members seek unprotected sexual favours and on the other hand, the women that they have left behind in their villages fall easy prey to traffickers, thus creating the supply and demand factors that fuel both trafficking and the spread of HIV/AIDS.
International migrants from the country face two specific kinds of problems – the first pertaining to the legal process of migration and the second related to their living and working conditions. Some major problems encountered by the migrants in their countries of employment include: premature termination of job contracts, changing the clauses of contract to the disadvantage of the workers, delay in making payments, violation of minimum wage standards, forced over-time work without returns and confiscation of passport and other legal documents.
In the case of most intra-state and inter-state unskilled and semi-skilled migrants, migrant labourers run high risks of exploitation for they are exposed to large uncertainties and lack access to information and knowledge, thus making it very difficult for them to switch jobs in case of dissatisfaction with the current employer. Because of their option-less situation, these labourers lack bargaining power and thereby fail to negotiate reasonable pay scales and fair working conditions with the contractors.
Most migrants live in open spaces, make shift shelters or illegal settlements, which lack the basic infrastructure and access to civic amenities. They have no local ration cards which can provide them their food at subsidized rates through the Public Distribution system. They are highly prone to occupational health hazards and vulnerable to epidemics including HIV/AIDS.
Since the migrants are mobile, their children have no crèche facilities or access to schooling. They do not come under the purview of either the local government or the NGO PROGRAMMES for they do not belong to that particular region. So citing the problem of monitoring, most agencies leave them outside the scope of development intervention.
In India, labour migrants are largely found in the developed states, the traditional migrant-receiving states, typically, coming from underdeveloped regions of the country and being comprised primarily of the most marginalized sectors of society, namely the Tribals and the Scheduled Castes (SCs). These migrants are entirely without legal protection or social security. They are “invisible”, and are not acknowledged and are denied access even to basic amenities in most of the cases. They have no identity in the places where they live and no voice in the places they have left behind
Migration offers a very fertile ground for traffickers. In India, migrants who leave their homes in search for better employment opportunities and marital prospects, fall easy preys to traffickers for want of adequate information. India performs all the three roles of being a country of origin, transit and destination in the process of trafficking. At a country level, India is ranked high in the citation index as a country of origin and destination and is ranked medium in the citation index as a country of transit (Trafficking in Persons – Global Patterns, UNODC). Alongside cross-border trafficking, internal trafficking of women, children and men for purposes of sexual exploitation, domestic servitude, bonded labour, and indentured servitude too is widespread.
U conveyed very important message in a humoric way, but its not true for all the indians who work outside the nation that they are UBIs
Thats new abbreviation i learned
:-)
1) LDCs lose their enormous investments on higher education when skilled people migrate to other countries and 2) LDCs are exaggerating the problem and only a few skilled people migrate at 1 time. India does not completely lose its investment in education when professionals migrate, since the migrants still contribute to knowledge and also send remittances to relatives in India. Unemployed educated people would cause a greater drain on India's resources than educated migrants. The author prefers the phrase migration of talent to brain drain, since the former indicates a 2-way movement. Most migrants from LDCs are students. About 11,000 university graduates leave India every year for advanced study and/or work. A conservative estimate is that 2500 will remain abroad permanently. Most professionals who migrate go to the US and Canada. Factors promoting migration include 1) unemployment, 2) immigration rules, 3) colonial links, 4) financial incentives and material benefits, 5) pursuit of higher education, 6) improvement of working conditions and facilities, 7) avoidance of excessive bureaucratic procedures, and 8) compensation for the mismatch between Indian education and employment. Reasons for returning to India include 1) deference to wives who were unable to adjust to a foreign way of life, 2) contributing to Indian development, and 3) racial discrimination. It will probably not be possible to lure back migrants who left for material reasons. Attractive job offers could entice back those who left for advanced training. To encourage the return of those who left to pursue high quality research, India must 1) increase expenditure on research and development, possibly through the private industrial sector, 2) promote travel to other countries for professional enrichment, and 3) improve conditions of research work. The article concludes with an analysis of migration of talent from 3 perspectives: 1) the individual, 2) the nation-state, and 3) the world as a whole.
that was very well written Mr.Avinash...u write well
Brain drain is a severe loss due to the flow of the competent and effective sector of the country particularly oil producing states which are now in terrible need for trained and highly skilled employees. Brain drain influences all level of education in the world which suffers illiteracy estimation at 70 million people. The economy can also be affected due to expenditure on study whether state funded or privately. The migration even broadens the gap between the rich and poor countries. Brain drain is advantageous to the beneficiary countries as well as loss to countries of origin, because it deprives these countries from the innovations of their subjects. Such countries as a result have become culturally and technologically dependent on the West.
An answer to this would be to encourage entrepreneurs to produce employment. The Government is supposed to give concessions in tax as well as decrease the hassles concerned in setting up an industry. In this way we could make India’s workforce one of its major assets.
well written as always.EXCELLENT SIR!!
good one
The biggest benefit of brain drain is that all those individual brains will get the opportunity to nurture in another atmosphere where they get more support as well as have more freedom to boom and this is why they leave. From a universal point of view, it will help talents develop and not be shattered. Here is a plain example, a very intelligent friend of mine got a medal in the International Physics Olympics as well as entered the university with no concourse. He graduated with most excellent marks, passed the Masters Entrance exam however was failed for some silly reason. For some time he unsuccessfully tried to get around the difficulty, but at the end he gave up and determined to study his masters out of the country. Now he is a PhD as well as lives happily and works in the States. Would someone else in his condition have done something else? I think no.
Furthermore, the knowledge that those young brilliant people gain overseas will be very helpful if they choose in a later phase to go back as well as settle down or engage in their country. The fact that young cultured people leave the country in the present situation is not only good for themselves however is also good for the world.
@SHILPI VERMA
Well written.Its true that brain drain is positive as well as negative for the country.The developed nations are gaining due to brain drain from developing countries.But then what can the youth do if they are not provided with facilities to study further or establish themselves after studies.In india there is a lot of struggle for people who are graduates and are looking for jobs.So the immediate option which they have is to go abroad and live a life which is far more better than what they will get in india.
well written bhai
@AMRITA & SHILP
The expression ‘brain-drain migration’ was popularised in the 1960s with the loss of skilled labour-power from a number of poor countries, notably India. Of particular concern was the emigration of those with scarce professional skills, like doctors and engineers, who had been trained at considerable expense by means of taxpayers’ subsidies to higher education It is impossible for political reasons to forbid emigration. This was a strategy closely associated with the repressive regimes in the Soviet Union and East Germany and would not be feasible or acceptable in virtually any country today. What, then, are the possible solutions to the brain drain?
Emigration can be delayed. Normally, delay strategies involve some element of public service. For example, doctors may be asked to stay on for two years after their training to ‘pay back’ what they ‘owe’ to society. A more sophisticated strategy is to incorporate delay within the training period, thus ensuring that certification follows rather than precedes a spell of public service. (This is the position advanced by South Africa’s Minister of Health.)
Emigration can be inhibited either in the destination or source countries. The main constraints in the destination countries are the labour market and immigration policies, but at high skill levels another important consideration is the portability of qualifications. Increasingly, this inhibition is falling away as educational franchise operations and international certification expand. Emigration can be inhibited in the source countries by developing special privileges for scarce groups through pay incentives, enhanced research budgets and laboratory and hospital subsidies.
A relaxed, market-driven solution is to ignore the emigration of skilled workers and let a brain-drain from poorer countries replace lost skills.
A more interventionist variation of the market solution is to recruit in target countries while developing immigration incentives. (In Canada, for example, foreign doctors working in rural areas are given accelerated immigration status.)
It might be possible to reduce the negative effects of the brain-drain by promoting links with skilled nationals and former nationals abroad
well i am in favour of emigration of talented stuff because everyone wants to be best utilized as per their efficiency. if they finds scope they should go but keep the morals for their motherland to support in any manner. Afterall Patriotism matters for any concerned person
Scene is changing these days.
These days every other house in the city in India has one or other member in foriegn country.SO,I do not think any craze of foriegn country is left in indians.In general ,people do not want to work abroad anymore.Not even labours like to work in gulf.recently an indian firm came in Dubai and recurited indian workers from here to India[SURPIRSE??Yes--it is true!]
In India life is much easier.As my experience says People living in gulf still are true Indians as they were before leaving their home land.
In gulf ,Many rules regulations are strict but still I can say this country united arab emirates 'specially Dubai is a model city in tolerance and co-existence.We hardly see any local around in city.All expatriats are seen in and out ..people speak hindi/urdu so we never felt we are in a foreign land.
All 'types' of people are living here.This is also true not everyone is lucky to get what they want.Every coin has two sides.
I find high security and safety here that if i wear/carry kgs of gold in public ,no one will snatch or attack.[Though,there are exceptions..but i am talking in general.
Still I love my country and proud to be indian .
never felt UBI..never.
You have written this article very well..presented one aspect very well.
[Oh yea...-there are many reasons for migration ..not just one..:)
well avinash.....u wrote well....
as always
BUT its not true for evry1, as no rule or perception is universal, yes some ppl are like, but surely not all
some have comulsion for moving abroad....as u know
So again a debatable issue u have raised
diffrent ppl wil have diffrent views...if wat u wrote and u meant it then mamajee in r family there are so many ppl living abroad and u thinl they are UBIs??
anyway well written
I want to talk about jobs and health care and pension security and what we're going to do to stop the brain drain in Ohio and make it possible for our young people to stay here and build a life in Ohio rather than in Pennsylvania or West Virginia or God knows where.
My God, I wouldn't even want to imagine what's going to happen. Tourism would get hit, all the big conglomerates would get totally wiped out. The banks will feel it ... The brain drain will start again.
In this situation, you lose the most active elements because the less exciting people stay at home and drink. I wouldn't call it a 'brain drain' because that term makes me think of rocket scientists. But it is a hemorrhaging and I don't think it's going to do Poland any good in the long run.
Fund companies are increasingly looking at this as a retention tool. Perhaps its one way to keep your fund manager on board. I don't know if it's a full blown turning point, but companies realize it could be a brain drain so they're taking steps to stay competitive.
It's creating a brain drain. We could end up with a society without knowledge. How can such a society make progress?
well it has gt so many aspects, those who migrate will always defend them....its difficult 2 judge on this critical issue
nicely written
i can already see so many arguements n counter arguements.....
well in my opinion its not bad if u are going abroad for bread n butter BUT yes love for nation should never fade
Regards
well written but u prsented one side of the coin only...there are diffrent aspects attached to it
regards
That was lovely reading, wonder u put humor category to it, but it was serious issue....yes u put some humor into it which made it worth reading non-stop
Yes u surely dealt with only one aspect, there is always many aspects attched 2 one issue.
Keep that writting spirit. But i am waiting for some romantic fiction from you
Regads
well written sir, yet again
I am very angry with d ppl moving abroad after eating, studying and growing up here. Things dont stop here when they come or talk about their foeign land and always praise n point out drwabacks in Indian system, economy, society n all.
really its very sad to hear all these from them.
Regards
i have also similar UBIs around me.....that was well written..agree with you entirely
Regards
It’s not erroneous or peccadillo going overseas; I am definitely not against them BUT I am in opposition to their approach when they point snag in Indian system, society, food and all blah!! blah!!
Its shame on them who do so. How come one can criticize its mother land just because some one is getting some healthier packages and life style. It really absurd and completely uncalled for.
The critique was well written and I am utterly in errand of you and concur with you.
Keep Posting….
Regards
u represnted only one aspect...was good humor but its not write at many points
Regards
You conveyed very vital memorandum and raised and imperative topic in lighter vein and in satirist approach.
But you got it all off beam, as a substitute of taking the issue in universal and bearing in mind everyone you took it individually and articulated thought process which is utterly delicate in nature.
Apologetic to say this, But I said what I felt, hope you will publish my remark
Regards
It was pleasant comprehension as you transmitted an imperative negative aspect in Indian mind-set and social set-up both. Both concur and differ with you.
Concur because even I have seen lots of UBI’s around me who are all eulogize for the nation where they have migrated, applauding even vagabonds there and not remembering that their pedigree is in India.
Disagree because you dealt with only one portion and furthermore no rule/perception/thinking is universal and there are constantly exceptions to it.
It was good reading as always.
Regards
well written . it was good reading.
Regards
Growing numbers of Middle East investors, especially the high networth individuals (HNIs) from the Gulf states, are investing in Asian emerging markets as part of their portfolio diversification
again a debate has been started on an imortant issue.
Good keep on going.
Regards
some body started the fire
intresting way to articulate the important issue
the number of workers who were given emigration clearance for contractual employment was just under 500,000, with almost 90 percent going to the Gulf States. The government aims to expand such overseas employment both in order to relieve domestic unemployment and augment remittances. In doing so it also aims to minimize problems faced by migrant workers in the recruitment and employment process.
Last month, 2,500 workers rioted at the construction site of what will be the world’s largest building in Dubai, protesting against unpaid and miserable living conditions. The incident, widely covered in the international media as the grime behind Dubai’s new glitz, brought attention to Asian migrant workers in the Middle East.
Official statistics suggest that a good proportion of them are Indians. Just as the Gulf oil boom drew lakhs of Indian workers in the 1980s, a new boom — particularly in the United Arab Emirates, where some of the world’s biggest development projects are under way — appears to have triggered a spurt in blue-collar migration from India over the 1
last two years.
Figures from the Protector of Emigrants’ Office show that migration of unskilled and semi-skilled workers has been steadily increasing since 2000, after a steep fall in the post-Gulf war, recession-ridden late ‘90s. Last year, a record 5.49 lakh workers got an emigration clearance stamp on their passport, the highest in over two decades.
Dear Avinash,
I am working in the UAE. As a citizen of India, I would like the to report the grim realities of the jobs available on foriegn shores. The dubai riots are an example of the expliotation of indian unskilled labours. But more than the government or the people of dubai, it is the indian agents that causes the trauma to its indian brother. When ever you print about the oppertunities in foriegn lands also provide a reminder as to how one can be cheated into a job which is not worth anything and which robs the life out of the worker.
The sad part is that these poor, hapless workers are exploited by the gulf employers as well as the sharks (agents) in India who charge them huge sums, i.e., anywhere between Rs.50,000/- to 100,000/- for a job in the gulf. The workers' misery starts the day they land in the gulf. Their employers redraw their contract with reduced salaries & house these workers upto 24 in a room in pathetic bunker-style accommodation that is fit only for animals. There will be just 1 toilet for 24 people and often fist-fights break out in the mornings outside toilets that overflow with sewer. The food dished out to the workers will be nothing but rotis, plain rice & dal day in & day out. It's a well-known fact that salaries of upto 3 months will be held back by the employers so as to ensure these workers return from their vacations. So in effect, from the moment these workers bribe the agent in Mumbai they are caught in a debt trap & end up slaving it out in the gulf for long hours, sometimes 365 days a year!!! I myself am a 10-year veteran of the gulf & can give you a first-hand account, where I saw my sponsor company blatantly flouting all human norms & ethics. It was an absolutely dehumanising experience to see my fellow countrymen being treated that way. This is a matter of great concern & I dearly hope our government wakes up atleast now to the plight of workers from India. Thankfully, the Indian Government has recently black-listed many companies in Qatar for ill-treating their Indian workers & other violations. Thanks to this move, we are now in a position to negotiate from a position of strength.
am working in Gulf and would like to add following points: -laboureres or unskilled workers in many cases do not get the salaries they are committed by agents in India. - working condition is hostile particularly for contruction workers because of the weather condtion. working hours are long and they hardly get any holiday. - legal systems in most of the gulf countries are not favourable to laboureres from Asia. - quality of life the labours have in Gulf is as bad as or even worse than what they have in India. - because of the visa system and immigration laws, labour has to find sponsorer and has to pay hefty sum to the sponsorer. As a result the savings are as good or as bad as in India.
Now a days, living in gulf is very dreadful bcoz Low salaries, redouble of rents and rebuff of migrant workers. Let us stay in own home is best to us.....
who has written this article is blind towards statistics and data. Full literate Kerala, is having mass well educated population than any other states in India. Urbanized villages are far better than any other towns in other parts of country. Editor and Journalist should learn the statistics. Please remove the “stupid†comments about Kerala in last paragraph of your illiterate article. We regret such article appeared in your well-managed and reputed paper. Please remove “stupid†lines from your article or remove entire article from your paper ASAP
The sad part is that these poor, hapless workers are exploited by the gulf employers as well as the sharks (agents) in India who charge them huge sums, i.e., anywhere between Rs.50,000/- to 100,000/- for a job in the gulf. The workers' misery starts the day they land in the gulf. Their employers redraw their contract with reduced salaries & house these workers upto 24 in a room in pathetic bunker-style accommodation that is fit only for animals. There will be just 1 toilet for 24 people and often fist-fights break out in the mornings outside toilets that overflow with sewer. The food dished out to the workers will be nothing but rotis, plain rice & dal day in & day out. It's a well-known fact that salaries of upto 3 months will be held back by the employers so as to ensure these workers return from their vacations. So in effect, from the moment these workers bribe the agent in Mumbai they are caught in a debt trap & end up slaving it out in the gulf for long hours, sometimes 365 days a year!!! I myself am a 10-year veteran of the gulf & can give you a first-hand account, where I saw my sponsor company blatantly flouting all human norms & ethics. It was an absolutely dehumanising experience to see my fellow countrymen being treated that way. This is a matter of great concern & I dearly hope our government wakes up atleast now to the plight of workers from India. Thankfully, the Indian Government has recently black-listed many companies in Qatar for ill-treating their Indian workers & other violations. Thanks to this move, we are now in a position to negotiate from a position of strength
'Arabisation' was introduced in the mid-to-late 90s in UAE and Saudi Arabia to reduce dependence on foreign labour. It included tightening visa requirements, hiking fees and imposing employee quotas for nationals. "But obviously, Arabisation has not happened in the lower end of the labour market
Indeed, figures from Dubai show over 80% of its population is migrant, and the bulk of blue-collar labour is from the subcontinent.
Experts say actual numbers are likely to be higher since official figures are at best indicative. For one, there is considerable illegal migration and secondly, while migration trends are extrapolated from emigration clearance statistics, such clearances are not required for several categories of workers including, for example, graduates. Recently, these categories were expanded — meaning many more people migrating for work have fallen out of the Protector of Emigrants’ radar. "This, combined with the Arabisation policies initiated in the ‘90s make the trend more significant,"
The new immigration policy expected to come up in the Lok Sabha this session may bring in several changes that may impact on the fortunes of job-seekers in the Gulf countries. What are the imperatives in this context in light of the growing odds that both skilled and unskilled candidates are facing in the Gulf market?
Most of the workers in Gulf countries, especially unskilled labourers, do not have good living conditions. In several cases, their passports are held by the employers and they are not properly paid. Then there is the problem of domestic helps who need protection against misbehaviour by the employers. The new immigration policy should give proper protection to Indians employed in Gulf countries.
The cumbersome and opaque provisions of the emigration Act of 1983 have made emigration of unskilled workers a nightmarish experience — whether it is the exploitation by corrupt officials or fleecing by unscrupulous middlemen in India or inhuman treatment at the hands of dishonest employers abroad and indifferent attitude of foreign governments, especially in the Gulf.
The amendments propose to make the process of migration transparent, humane and orderly. The new policy aims to redefine the roles of the different stakeholders like the governments, recruiting agencies, emigration officials, embassies, etc. by imposing accountability as well as streamlining the procedures. Doing away with compulsory emigration clearance will free the labourers from the clutches of cheats and corrupt officials. The proposed penal measures for unscrupulous agencies will act as a deterrent to human trafficking. Embassies are expected to attest work orders and contracts to prevent fraudulent transactions.
The embassies should transform themselves from being elitist dens of aloofness to visible, accessible and caring representatives of the Indian government. These offices should be adequately manned and provided with roving officials who should periodically visit labour camps and work sites to see how the workers are treated. Officials posted in the Office of the Protector of Emigrants should be trained to provide transparent and efficient service to intending emigrants.
Some of the stringent measures may initially slow down the migration process. But, it is better to be safe than to be sorry later. The principle of caveat emptor (buyer beware) also applies to securing the services of agents and foreign employers.
In our present-day world which is inevitably globalising in spite of opposition from certain quarters, immigration is an active international issue, the regulation of which is evolving fairly fast in countries which offer attractive immigration markets. Kerala is a large provider of human resource material for such job markets, mainly in the skilled and unskilled category, in the Gulf countries. A good fraction of them have been exploited by unscrupulous groups and persons professing as agents for helping such candidates in clearing all the emigration formalities and finding them suitable jobs in these countries. If the new immigration policy brings in changes that curb these fraudulent activities to which the ordinary job seekers with limited or no awareness of the emigration and contract requirements fall victim, they should be welcomed
At the same time, there should be parallel measures by the authorities to create conditions where such job seekers can be accommodated in the industrial, especially the construction, sectors of India’s growing economy and to make a good proportion of such job seekers fulfil the basic qualifications for migration, which countries are gradually upgrading and making stricter. If the new immigration policy affectively addresses the above issues, it will go a long way in helping job seekers in this class and will also be instrumental in preventing lowering the general image of such workers in the countries of immigration.
the Gulf countries do not provide permanent residency or citizenship to the migrant workers. This constitutes a lacuna that adversely affects the job seekers, particularly the unskilled ones. Unskilled labourers, including women, owing to their ignorance of the complicated or concealed provisions of the immigration rules, fall prey to the machinations of unscrupulous recruiting agencies. Many a bizarre story depicting the saga of struggle the hapless women have surfaced in the media. Any prospective changes in the immigration policy should take care of these awful deficiencies.
The prospective immigrant policy should promote ethical recruitment standards. It should have provisions for unambiguous work permits and residence procedures to avoid blatant exploitation of the workers
There are thousands of labourers from Kerala, Tamil Nadu and other States in the Middle East and several other countries. About seventy percent of these are unskilled labourers. Now, the employment conditions in the Middle East and other countries are worse due to the decline of the dollar. Thousands of Indians get solace from these overseas jobs and their families survive due to these earnings.
The immigration laws should be for the people and should not pester them in any way. If there are any flaws in the immigration policy, it should be corrected for the security of our country and not against the poor Indian job seekers.
Globalisation has reduced the ability of the nation state alone to provide solutions, while failing to provide a realistic alternative at the global level. Europe - with its shared values and diversity of expertise - fills that gap.
It is to the nation state that most Europeans feel greatest allegiance. But in an era when the challenges facing nation states are global, governments can best deliver for their citizens by leveraging our common strength as Europe.
But what i find amazing/disturbing is that there is absolutely no emotion/ sense of responsibilty when the question put forward is individual responsibility to society! Or for that matter, there is also no comprehension of the famous indian motto,”unity in diversity”. Everyone seems to be one with the others as long as their needs/requirements are catered for, else the rest are automatically enemies of community/religion/group/minority/majority/…….list goes on ad infinitum ad nauseum
There are millions of illegal migrants from SE Asia, and from India particularly, in the USA and Europe too. As Prerna says it is not these countries’ responsibility to make sure other progress equally well but for years these nations absorbed illegal migrants. I do not think India wants these people back, in return for sending the Bangladeshis back, does she?
A good test in general in life, I have learnt, is to ask ourselves how we would feel if the shoe were on the other foot. I think in policy terms, India is experiencing many such firsts but then again to quote Spiderman’s uncle - With great power comes great responsibility
Welcome to big daddy territory for India! Things are less pleasant in Successville than they advertised.
intresting debate n some very intresting comments
surely all are not same as no rules is universal...
Done enirely agree wid you
Intresting reading the post n comments
that was intresting reading....got new abbb UBI
:-)
Nice debate
That was interesting. Actually it reminds me of my neighbour back in delhi. Aunty wished that the family went on at least one foreign trip or maybe lived for atleast a few months in another country, "to humari ladkiyon ki shaadi achi jagah ho jati". Frankly, I don't see the connection between foreign trips and marriage but her talks made me laugh!
at last..it's so tough to make a comment in yr blog boss. it is so full and c the number of comments..awesome..shows your commitment..congrats to yr team avi..lots can be said about this particular post..i think generalisations r not good..there r millions who slog outside the country to help their relatives and parents..and the experience gained outside can be of major use to our own country..of course, there r the black sheep who look down upon their own country...ignore them..how do they matter boss? love of oneself, family, city, country and globe? it is a chain..and begins with the individual..it will go on yaar, i will stop here..thanks..
Sir,
All are surely not same, but yes majority are like u mentioned who feel like UBIs.
Its surprsing how they curse their homelad after seeing some thing better abroad. Moving out is surely not a sin & crime but the worst part is comparison and cursing own nation.
People who do so are real selfish and doesnt desrve to be called Indian citizens, if some in my family say my mom/ dad have some problem or i dont like something about them then we wont on all around the globe cusring them...CAN WE? no i guess
So why this cursing and pointing drawbacks in our motherland, yes their are but they should help others and contribute in their part to rectify it and help improve the nation instead of saying India lacks this, that and all Blah!! Blah!!.
Regards
surely all are not same but yes their are few species like u mentioned UBIs....i hate them (UBIs)
surely like most i will also say that all are'nt same but there are many UBIs at the same time
well written and some very intresing comments and info in it.
Going abroad and settling down there for ten or more years. I don’t want to talk much about this group because I don’t know what makes them happy leaving their own homeland, parents, friends etc. For me, these are selfish people who care little for their family and friends. While saying this, I don’t mean that they have to live for other but intend to say that the knowledge gained and expertise gained is of no use if it is not shared with your acquaintances and utilised for the betterment of your homeland. People who have settled abroad with their parents is a different case, at least. But, how many of the Indians are doing that?
unfortunately this is a global problem
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