<p>The last few years have seen many bright young boys and girls from top engineering and medical institutions leaving abroad for higher education, with most of them not returning to India (7.5 lakh in 2022, which went up to 13.3 lakh in 2024, as per the reply given by the <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/eam">External Affairs Minister</a> in the Lok Sabha, Question No. 894).</p><p>Around a third of IIT graduates leave the country each year, according to a study by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). This is even more pronounced among the crème de la crème of academic achievers: two-thirds (62 per cent) of the top 100 students at IITs have migrated.</p><p>According to one estimate each year, around 70,000 to 80,000 students graduate with an MBBS degree in India. It is estimated that around one-third of the newly qualified physicians migrate overseas annually and a majority of them are from the top medical colleges in the country.</p><p>The education of these students in government institutions is highly subsidised and a fairly large percentage of these students also get free education; some of them don’t even pay the mess and hostel charges.</p><p>Just compare this with the number of foreign students who came to India for higher studies. According to Bureau of Immigration statistics, only 40,431 foreign students came to India in 2023 for higher studies.</p>.Lessons from Gaza: A global reckoning.<p>One can understand why most bright young students go abroad for their post-graduate degrees at the best universities in the world and take up jobs in those countries.</p><p>They go there not only for higher education but also for more satisfying service conditions as well as for better work and living environments and career advancement. It seems we are spending huge sums of our taxpayer’s money on their education in India for the benefit of advanced nations to which they migrate.</p><p>It is a matter of grave concern that we are losing our talent because we neither have world-class institutions for their higher studies nor do we have better work environments for them.</p><p>The increasing number of Indians renouncing their citizenship is also a matter of concern (from 1,34,561 in 2018 to 2,25,620 in 2022, as stated by the Minister for External Affairs in Rajya Sabha ). He also informed the Rajya Sabha that individuals renounce their Indian citizenship for reasons personal to them. He further stated that the MEA does not have data about whether the government has done any study on the reasons why they are leaving the country and the professional breakdown of all such individuals.</p><p>In fact, the government seems to be viewing this exodus of talent as good for the country, which is also evident from the reply to a question (No. 894) by the MEA when he said, “…A successful, prosperous and influential diaspora is viewed as an asset for India.<br>The government’s efforts are also aimed at harnessing the potential of the Indian diaspora, for India’s growth and development.”</p><p>Unfortunately, we have a more serious problem, as a fairly large number of millionaires have also started leaving India in the recent past (7,500 in 2022, 6,500 in 2023 and about 4,300 in 2024). Those leaving the country belong to a class of achievers who have excelled in their chosen profession, be it corporate or private sector. </p><p>They have achieved success despite odds, like an unfriendly regulatory environment, high taxes, corruption etc. The reasons for their emigration are widely known and reported in<br>the media.</p><p>It is surprising that the government shows no interest in collecting data about the professional breakdown of all such individuals and the reasons for their leaving.</p><p>Their reasons for leaving the country are safety and security considerations, financial planning, high taxes in India, business and career opportunities in favourable economic climates, lifestyle preferences, traffic congestion in many Indian cities, access to elite educational institutions for family members and retirement strategies.</p><p>And their preferred destinations are countries such as the UAE, US, Singapore, Canada, and Australia. Countries like the UAE are rolling out the red carpet for millionaires by offering ‘golden visas’, luxurious living, and a business-friendly environment with no taxation on income. This has led to Indians being the largest demographic in Dubai at 37.96 per cent.</p><p>The millionaires leaving the country and its adverse impact on the economy and image don’t seem to be of any concern to the government. There is no data available on the amount foreign exchange being lost, the wealth being withdrawn from the stock market, loss of tax revenues or loss of jobs due to the flight of millionaires.</p><p>Besides these, their unstated reasons include rampant corruption, poor state of urban infrastructure, high level of crime, traffic jams in major cities, poor air quality etc. They also privately express their concerns about some of the policies of the government, like excessive reservations in government jobs and educational institutions, ever-increasing freebies to large sections of society and the increasing criminalisation of political parties.</p><p>Some of them also say that ever-increasing doles in the form of freebies will only encourage people and their next generations to remain poor and they will not try to come out of poverty.</p><p>These are obviously serious issues that need to be addressed as a priority if India is to become a developed nation by 2047.</p><p>I wonder if any political party would like to address these issues, as they are the ones who are mainly responsible for these problems. And a handful of talent leaving the country every year does not constitute any significant vote-bank for them.</p><p>Any country that does not care about its talent should not hope to become a developed nation. I think we, as citizens, must have a sustained public debate on these issues and hope that the media and judiciary also play a constructive role in generating a strong public opinion, which alone can get the attention of the governments to address these issues.</p><p><em>(The writer is a retired IAS officer)</em></p>
<p>The last few years have seen many bright young boys and girls from top engineering and medical institutions leaving abroad for higher education, with most of them not returning to India (7.5 lakh in 2022, which went up to 13.3 lakh in 2024, as per the reply given by the <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/eam">External Affairs Minister</a> in the Lok Sabha, Question No. 894).</p><p>Around a third of IIT graduates leave the country each year, according to a study by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). This is even more pronounced among the crème de la crème of academic achievers: two-thirds (62 per cent) of the top 100 students at IITs have migrated.</p><p>According to one estimate each year, around 70,000 to 80,000 students graduate with an MBBS degree in India. It is estimated that around one-third of the newly qualified physicians migrate overseas annually and a majority of them are from the top medical colleges in the country.</p><p>The education of these students in government institutions is highly subsidised and a fairly large percentage of these students also get free education; some of them don’t even pay the mess and hostel charges.</p><p>Just compare this with the number of foreign students who came to India for higher studies. According to Bureau of Immigration statistics, only 40,431 foreign students came to India in 2023 for higher studies.</p>.Lessons from Gaza: A global reckoning.<p>One can understand why most bright young students go abroad for their post-graduate degrees at the best universities in the world and take up jobs in those countries.</p><p>They go there not only for higher education but also for more satisfying service conditions as well as for better work and living environments and career advancement. It seems we are spending huge sums of our taxpayer’s money on their education in India for the benefit of advanced nations to which they migrate.</p><p>It is a matter of grave concern that we are losing our talent because we neither have world-class institutions for their higher studies nor do we have better work environments for them.</p><p>The increasing number of Indians renouncing their citizenship is also a matter of concern (from 1,34,561 in 2018 to 2,25,620 in 2022, as stated by the Minister for External Affairs in Rajya Sabha ). He also informed the Rajya Sabha that individuals renounce their Indian citizenship for reasons personal to them. He further stated that the MEA does not have data about whether the government has done any study on the reasons why they are leaving the country and the professional breakdown of all such individuals.</p><p>In fact, the government seems to be viewing this exodus of talent as good for the country, which is also evident from the reply to a question (No. 894) by the MEA when he said, “…A successful, prosperous and influential diaspora is viewed as an asset for India.<br>The government’s efforts are also aimed at harnessing the potential of the Indian diaspora, for India’s growth and development.”</p><p>Unfortunately, we have a more serious problem, as a fairly large number of millionaires have also started leaving India in the recent past (7,500 in 2022, 6,500 in 2023 and about 4,300 in 2024). Those leaving the country belong to a class of achievers who have excelled in their chosen profession, be it corporate or private sector. </p><p>They have achieved success despite odds, like an unfriendly regulatory environment, high taxes, corruption etc. The reasons for their emigration are widely known and reported in<br>the media.</p><p>It is surprising that the government shows no interest in collecting data about the professional breakdown of all such individuals and the reasons for their leaving.</p><p>Their reasons for leaving the country are safety and security considerations, financial planning, high taxes in India, business and career opportunities in favourable economic climates, lifestyle preferences, traffic congestion in many Indian cities, access to elite educational institutions for family members and retirement strategies.</p><p>And their preferred destinations are countries such as the UAE, US, Singapore, Canada, and Australia. Countries like the UAE are rolling out the red carpet for millionaires by offering ‘golden visas’, luxurious living, and a business-friendly environment with no taxation on income. This has led to Indians being the largest demographic in Dubai at 37.96 per cent.</p><p>The millionaires leaving the country and its adverse impact on the economy and image don’t seem to be of any concern to the government. There is no data available on the amount foreign exchange being lost, the wealth being withdrawn from the stock market, loss of tax revenues or loss of jobs due to the flight of millionaires.</p><p>Besides these, their unstated reasons include rampant corruption, poor state of urban infrastructure, high level of crime, traffic jams in major cities, poor air quality etc. They also privately express their concerns about some of the policies of the government, like excessive reservations in government jobs and educational institutions, ever-increasing freebies to large sections of society and the increasing criminalisation of political parties.</p><p>Some of them also say that ever-increasing doles in the form of freebies will only encourage people and their next generations to remain poor and they will not try to come out of poverty.</p><p>These are obviously serious issues that need to be addressed as a priority if India is to become a developed nation by 2047.</p><p>I wonder if any political party would like to address these issues, as they are the ones who are mainly responsible for these problems. And a handful of talent leaving the country every year does not constitute any significant vote-bank for them.</p><p>Any country that does not care about its talent should not hope to become a developed nation. I think we, as citizens, must have a sustained public debate on these issues and hope that the media and judiciary also play a constructive role in generating a strong public opinion, which alone can get the attention of the governments to address these issues.</p><p><em>(The writer is a retired IAS officer)</em></p>
