RETURN OF THE NRI?
Visitor Rating (0.00) 
RETURN OF THE NRI?
WITH RECENT REPORTS SUGGESTING THAT A GROWING NUMBER OF SKILLED INDIAN LABOUR ARE RETURNING FROM THE WEST TO INDIAN SHORES, THAT MEANS FOR THE....
BRAIN DRAIN PHENOMENON
Case 1:
Circa 1999- After graduating in the top 10% of his Indian business school, the job application of a 23-yearold Indian student is accepted by a Manhattanbased investment bank. A few months later, he is granted an H-1B visa, or in other words, a opportunity to work in the United States for seven years. Cutting to the present: On his way to fetch his children from the day care centre, the well- settled investment banker is relieved after receiving news on the progress of his green card application, which will assure that his children will continue to live in the country they call home.
Case 2:
At age 28, this IT professional had never imagined that he would spend most of his twenties confined to his office in Silicon Valley , California . Today, he can’t believe his luck after receiving a job offer from an Indian IT firm, offering the same salary as the amount he currently makes. The only differnce is he can work in Hyderabad , the city where his family lives. In a few days, this IT professional will be preparing to leave Silicon Valley and return home.
Over the past few decades, the Indian diaspora has formed a significant portion of immigrant populations in western countries such as the United States and Canada . In fact, until a few years ago, moving to the West was perhaps the most sought after professional opportunity for qualified Indians. Technically, the geographical migration of labour from one country to another is known as the brain drain. After completing their education in their native country, in this case India , when individuals move to another country, they take with them the skills and knowledge that they acquired during their academic years in their home country. In this way, they are ‘draining’ the services that they could have contributed toward the development of the country in which they developed these skills, and instead, provide them to a country that promises a far higher standard of living in return for their skills. Since the phenomenon gained prominence amongst Indians in the 1960s, critics have pointed that the effort put into improving educational opportunities in India in order to reduce skill shortages will continue to be futile unless highly educated Indians are provided adequate incentives to remain in India . Furthermore, studies suggest that almost three quarters of the skilled labour migrating to the West, have completed their tertiary education - a level significantly higher than the skilled labour of other countries.
“For the past few years, the largest number of students to join US colleges has consistently been from India . This was reflected in the incoming freshman class at my university every year. At the end of their education, very rarely did one hear an Indian student talk about his opportunities in India . The focus was always on getting a job in the United States itself,” remembers Chicago-based interior designer, Anjali Saxena. “Even if I was hired by one of the best interior design firms in India , there would still be no comparison between my current salary and the one I would receive at home. Today, I am financially independent; could I have said the same if I were working in India ? I don’t think so.” From a broader perspective, what Anjali is voicing is the driving force of the brain drain phenomenon.
However, the 21 st century has witnessed a change in the brain drain pattern that most experts had never expected to take place so soon. Backed by a booming economy, Indian companies and multinational corporations (MNCs) with branches in India , started offering young Indians salaries that were unheard of until even a decade ago. Bangalore and Hyderabad quickly gained the reputation of global IT hubs and as a result, some of India’s brightest skilled labour remained in, and returned to, these cities to work.Rohan Bhargava,25, works as a computer engineer at one of the country’s leading IT firms, but only two years ago, he was one of the thousands of Indians supporting the American IT industry. “When I left for America , I expected to work there for at least ten to fifteen years, and return to India only when I had a sufficient savings fund.I chanced upon my current opening on a job search website and jumped at the opportunity only because the difference between my income in America and India was negligible. Secondly, it is important for me to work in an environment that offers a tremendous scope for growth, and I see more growth in the Indian economy than anywhere else in the world.”
What examples such as Rohan constitute are the changing patterns in the brain drain phenomenon that took most people by surprise a few years ago. Simply put, the reverse brain drain, refers to the return of skilled labour from the country of immigration to their native country. However, as a large number of Indians continue to prefer a foreign education, is the reverse brain drain a note-worthy successor to the brain drain phenomenon, or does an international career opportunity continue to be the first choice amongst India’s skilled labour?
Financial consultant, Alok Shah, is in complete disagreement with the growing buzz about the reverse brain drain phenomenon.“The truth is, it has become increasingly difficult to find employers who sponsor work permits for international candidates. For example, those who are struggling to get sponsored in the US , are now looking for jobs in Canada , where it is relatively easier to get a work permit. Additionally, catastrophes such as 9/11 and the recent bombings in the UK have made the world we live in very sensitively- charged. I personally know a Sikh family who returned to India only because they were victim of a racist attack.It is these Indians returning to India ; those who manage to acquire a work permit continue to live abroad,” he argues.
A casual conversation with a group of college students echoed a similar sentiment. “Unless you have a family-run business, working abroad seems far more lucrative,” “In India, I might never have the finances to move out of my parent’s home, abroad, it’s a different story altogether,” and “I would rather work in a country where I won’t have to fight corruption every step of the way”, are only some of the reasons provided by students for their preference to work abroad. And it is in these very reflections of the country’s youth, which most clearly explains why the brain drain phenomenon, the country’s economic growth notwithstanding, will remain so deep rooted in the psyche of the generations to come. Nonetheless, to conclude on an optimistic note, if the next few years were to bring with an unambiguous improvement in the standard of living of India ’s skilled labour, then perhaps the next time we revisited the (reverse) brain drain phenomenon, the story would end of a completely different note.
