23 Recent trends in Emigration

1. INTRODUCTION

The Indian Diaspora is both large and spread widely across the globe. Emigration from India has not been in one wave but has happened at different historical periods, and in a variety of political contexts and migrants are composed of different socio-economic strata. Post independence however the reason for migration has been the search for a better life and this trend has continued till today. The opening up of the Indian economy in the 1990s has had a major impact on the labour outflow to other countries. There has been a marked increase in the sheer number of migrants going to countries such as UK , US and Canada. This is the most important feature of the recent trends in emigration.

Numerical Strength of the Indian Diaspora across various countries. (Table created based on data from Report by the High Level Committee on Indian Diaspora, 2001)

According to Sassikumar and Hussain( 2008: 3-4)this increase ispart of a three pronged trend. First, the people with professional expertise, technical qualifications and skills migrate to high-income, developed ,traditional migrant destination countries such as USA, UK, and Canada, and the GCC (The Gulf Cooperation Council – Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates), either as permanent immigrants or to take up temporary employment. Second, unskilled, semi-skilled and professionals migrate as contract workers to the high-income countries in the Gulf (mainly to the GCC countries).

This particular trend has, in addition to traditional destinations, also been of late towards the high income countries of South East Asia such as Malaysia. The third and recent most trend is, professionals, especially young IT professionals, who migrate in ever increase in numbers to North America but also to newly emerging destinations such as Europe (Germany, France, and Belgium), Australasia (Australia and New Zealand) and East Asia (Japan and Singapore).

This module maps this increase in emigration since the 1990s, country-wise, looking at the immigration policies of specific countries and how this has shaped the migration from India to those countries. It will also deal with the major impact od this emigration on India itself. It will also touch on the new phenomenon of return migration. But we shall begin with a brief outline of the factors within India itself that have propelled the emigration in recent years, i.e., from 1990 onwards, as well as the overall global scenario with reference to the Indian diaspora.

The two main features of socio-economic and political landscape in India that has created conditions for increased emigration, harvesting the benefits of emigration and attracting return emigration are the liberalization of the Indian economyin the era of globalization and the dramatic transformation of Govt. of India’s diaspora policy into a pro-active and positive one. These are dicussed in detail in several modules of this course, and we will not go into details here. Suffice to say that with liberalization and the opening up of the economy to integrate into the world economy, India as a market, as a source of skilled labour and of qualified professionals with an advantage in speaking the English language which is increasingly the global language of communictation and commerce, there is a favourable response from many countries to Indian migrants.

At the same time, India’s own policy towards its emigrants is changed from earlier phase of resentment and accusations of disloyalty and betrayal to amore welcoming and positive approach, creating a two way exchange and communication between India and its diasporas.

The successes of Indian IT professionals, from the lowest level of data entry and programming to the highest level of entrepreneurship and management in top global companies is a much talked about one and characterizes the latest phase of emigration. The contribution of Indian immigrants to the Silicon Valley phenomenon is noteworthy. (See BOX ). Germany has created an special visa (“Green Card’) to attract Indian IT professionals.

Some of the successful diasporas have also built political clout in their host countries and have been deployed by the Indain government for advocacy and building lobbies.On the other hand, in some of the newer destinations like Australia, where Indian migrants have found a variety of jobs in a variety of income levels in non traditional sectors like hospitality , health care, cosmetic and beauty industry, etc, they have faced hostility for allegedly taking away jobs from locals and have been targeted for racist attacks.

Indian emigration to the Gulf continues to be high, and the benefits of this can be seen in the high remittances back home and development of the region. There is also a downside to this in the form of uneven development and rise in inequalities as also the struggles and psychological issues of women and children left behind, and in the few cases of female only migration, the repercussions on family life. The case of Kerala is a much studied one in this regard (for example see Prakash 1998; Zacariah and Rajan 2011; http://infochangeindia.org/governance/worldview/migration-from-kerala-the-end-of-an-era.html

On the other hand, the downside of Gulf employment is visible in cases of deception while recruiting, bad conditions of work, low wages, lack of civic rights , etc. Reports periodically surface in the media with horror stories of specific cases.

You can read some of these in the following sites:

• http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/nri/middle-east-news/Indian-migrant-workers-return-home-with-horror-tales-from-UAE/articleshow/18473461.cms
• http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2012/06/07/women-working-in-the-gulf-face-exploitation/
• http://www.amnesty.org.uk/press-releases/india-migrant-workers-exploited-and-abused-saudi-arabia With regard to the old diasporas, ie the destinations of the colonial period like Caribbean countries, East and South Africa, Fiji, Mauritius, etc, these are not favoured destinations for current emigrants from India. In several of these countries, following independence from their colonizers, the new nations have not always treated citizens of Indian origin on par with native communities and there is simmering tension. There has been emigration of Indian origin people from these countries to Australia, Canada, US and Netherlands in search of better opportunities, what is termed as double migration.

IITs IN SILICON VALLEY

The engineering graduates of the elite Indian Institutes of Tecnology are a striking example of a group who played a contributory role in triggering the Information Technology revolution in India and in the US. This true to some extent of engineering graduates from India in general. While emigration of IIT graduates to the west started from the 1970s, the turning point was from the 1990s, with the advent of globalization and the new information technology. The critical mass of IIT alumni in the west (around 60,000) leveraged its initial educational and professional capital into spectacular entrepreneurship in the start-up sector. This was also the time that economic liberalization changed the dynamics of Indian society. New links were forged between those IITians who had left for the US and those who stayed back –instead of the previous divide.. They formed their own entrepreneurial networks, contributing to the Indian advantage in the IT and finance sector. They gave back to the alma mater in the form of infra structural facilities and support for students . According to Devesh Kapur ( 2010: 69) in 2004, 7 out of 8 overseas IIT graduates were in US The joke then was “when a student enrols in IIT, his spirit is said to ascend to America. After graduation, his body follows”. Various studies that show how the Silicon Valley boom was largely the creation of Chinese and Indian immigrants and how IITians played a significant role.

·      10 % of all Silicon Valley start-ups 1995 -1998 by Indians, mostly from the IIT system.”

——‘Silicon Valley’s New Immigrant Entrepreneurs’, Study by Pratt School of Engineering at the Duke University

— “Waves of IIT graduates migrated to the (Silicon) Valley… mastered its unwritten rules of engagement… and shattered its glass ceiling.”

———–Neesha Bapat ”America’s New Immigrant Entrepreneurs Then and Now” project, Stanford University

—  Anna Lee Saxenian chronicles the rise of immigrant entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley, Indian and Chinese, and the role of IITians

—  IITians in top 10 list of US startup founders 2010-2013

Shilpa Phadnis, TNN | Dec 11, 2013, 05.53AM IST

In the following paragraphs there are short accounts of the context in which migration has occurred to specific countries where the Indian diaspora has specific presence.

2. TRADITIONAL DESTINATIONS ( USA, CANADA AND UK)

The average annual inflows of Indian immigrants to all these countries have shown record growth since the 1990s, compared to earlier decades. In United States, the average annual inflow of immigrants recorded at 26,184 persons during the 1980s (Nayyar, 1994) almost doubled to reach 48,844 during 1995 to 2005. In Canada, the average annual inflows which was 7930 persons in the 1980s more than tripled to reach 23,471 during the period 1995- 2005. (Sassikumar & Hussain, 2008, p. 4).Similarly, the average inflow of immigrants from India to the United Kingdom increased from 5400 persons during the 1980s to 6,576 during 1995-2005.(Sassikumar & Hussain, 2008, p. 3)

There has been a further increase in the number of Indians immigrating on a permanent basis to these three countries since turn of the 21st century. Such an increase has also considerably scaled up the proportion of Indians in the total immigration flows in these countries in recent years. For instance, in the case of the USA, this proportion which had more or less been around 5 per cent during 1995-2000 has shot up during 2000-2005 to reach 7.5 per cent by 2005. Similarly in Canada, the proportion of Indians as percentage of the total immigrants which averaged around 9.5 per cent during 1995-1999, rose up to an average of nearly 13 per cent during the 2000-2005. In the case of United Kingdom, the proportion of Indians which had indicated a declining trend from 1995-2002 (from around 8 per cent to 6.8 per cent) has registered increases since then reaching 8 per cent once again in 2004. (Sassikumar & Hussain, 2008, p. 4)

The reason for the rather marked increase has been different in different years, but government policy has been one of the strongest deciders.

The 1950s onwards there were various changes in the immigration policiesamong the trio of countries. Initially policies were geared more towards limiting foreign labour influx and preventing immigrants from settling down in the country. Amendmentsto these policies began around the mid 1960s. Since then there has been a steadily increasing flow of people from India to these countries. Before the 1990s the flow was by was geared towards immigration schemes that involved family reunification (US and Canada) and also influx of lower-middle class from the northern states. The 1990s decade onwards people have begun coming purely for professional reasons and as such the class of immigrants are different and also have a different skill set.

According to Abella(Abella, 2006, p. 11) four factors have pushed several developed countries in recent years to reduce barriers to allow a larger inflow of foreign workers in high-skilled categories. Firstly, the liberalization of trade which has led to the increase number and size of MNCs, and their economic activity, leading to the movement of skilled personnel; secondly, rapid expansion of the knowledge economy that has created a demand for specialized skills, especially IT engineers; Thirdly, rapid ageing of population has led to a demand for the services of health care professionals; and fourthly, the growth of informal and flexible employment has allowed migrant workers to enter markets abandoned by the native workers.

The current scenario and the changing policy to attract workers can be categorized into two types. First, several specific and specialized schemes aimed at attracting highly skilled migrants primarily on a temporary basis. This is mostly directed attracting and admitting IT professionals and health care workers. Second, changes made in existing policy and work permit systems to facilitate quicker access to the labour market for the highly skilled personnel. Several countries have adopted ‘points system’.

2.1 United States of America

The 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act is seen as the landmark change in the USimmigration legislative processes. This act equalized the immigrant quotas at 20,000 personsfor all national groups in the Eastern hemisphere and created two immigrant categories- family reunion category and the employment category. The next change has been the Immigration Act of 1990 (US Congress,1991), the 1990 Act aimed to accommodate economic restructuring and globalization of capital and personnel flows. Immigrants were classified into three main categories: family-sponsored, employment based, and diversity. In addition to stressing the traditional value of family reunion, the immigration Act of 1990 emphasized employment-based immigration by tripling quotas to 140,000 per year.(Li & Lo, 2009, p. 4)

Therecently introduced laws and policies are geared towards ensuring that the labor force is meeting their own specific needs and shortages and is also temporary in nature. With this in mind the H-1 visa launched in the 1990 Act has been improved to the H-1B visa . It has been introduced for temporary workers in ‘specialty occupations’ which require specialized knowledge. People with H-1B visa are allowed to bring their families who are not however allowed to seek employment. As such the labour force has to return home within a few years. (Li & Lo, 2009, p. 12).In recent years, Indians have been the top recipients of temporary high-skilled worker H-1B visas. They accounted for 70 percent of the 316,000 H-1B petitions (initial and continuing employment) approved by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) in fiscal year (FY) 2014. India is also the second-largest source country of international students to the United States, nearly 103,000 Indian-born students enrolled in U.S. educational institutions in the 2013-14 school year.(Zong & Batalova, 2015)

Indian population in the US has increased more than four times in both 1960s and 1970 from previous decades respectively, and more than doubled in both 1980s and 1990s, with additional 53% increase in the year 2005 resulting in a total of more than 2.57 millions by 2007. (Li & Lo, 2009, p. 8). As of 2013, more than 2 million Indian-born immigrants live in the United States. Indian account for 4.7 percent of the country’s 41.3 million foreign-born population.(Zong & Batalova, 2015).

Indian in the United States, according to an article in the Economic Times,Indians are the wealthiest ethnic group, with a per capita income of nearly USD 100,000, twice the national average. They all have the highest educational qualifications of all ethnic groups. 71 percent of all Indians have a bachelor’s or high school degree and almost 40 perent of all Indians in the US have a master’s, doctorate or other professional degree, which is five times the national average. (Rajghatta, 2014)

2.2 Canada

In Canada the policy has been more welcoming than the US, despite sharing similar discriminative policy orgins.In 1968, Canada introduced its points system, which assigns value to qualifications, rather than a person’s ethnic or national background. In 2002, the country introduced the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, which defines three basic categories of permanent residents that correspond to three basicprogramme objectives: reuniting family, contributing to economic development, and protectingrefugees.

Over the past two decades, India has been ranked among the top three source countries for labour to Canada. The majority were admitted under the family class prior to 1986. However the migration of skilled workers has become particularly prominent since the mid-1990s. But unlike other Asian countries, few came under the business class. (Li & Lo, 2009, p. 13)

Skilled workers now represent the majority of immigrants. Over the years, they have increasingly arrived with higher educational qualifications, and professional and skilled/technical occupation credentials. Most recently, over 40% of new Indians arrived with tertiary education and professional qualifications. Data compiled by Citizenship and Immigration of Canada shows that skilled workers from India have been steadily increasing and replacing family class immigrants since the mid-1990s. In an interview with Times of India Canadian Immigration Minister Chris Alexander, in 2013, over 33,000 Indian immigrants moved to Canada, with 60 per cent being, economic migrants, and the rest families.(Bagchi, 2014).

In addition to economic immigrants who are granted permanent residency status, the number of temporary migrants entering Canada, has also multiplied since the late 1990s and early 2000s. India is however not a major player here. Numbered at 8,706, foreign workers from India only accounted for 4% of the total stock of foreign workers in the country in 2007. The same can be said of foreign students In 2007. Less than 7,000 Indians on student visa when the total foreign student population was almost 180,000. In 2007, 2,505 foreign students and 5,373 foreign workers from India entered Canada for the first time.

However, a new visa processing programme for Indian visitors was launchedin 2013 under the new CAN+ programme, Indian nationals who have travelled to Canada or the US in the past 10 years can go through faster processing of visas. In 2013, Canada issued more than 1,30,000 visitor visas to Indians and nearly 14,000 Indian students travelled to study.(Bagchi, 2014)

2.3 UK

In the mid-1960s, most Indians coming to the United Kingdom were dependents according to government statistics; dependents made up 75 percent of all Indians entering in 1965 and 80 percent in 1966. This peaked in 1968, at just over 23,000. Between 1970 and 1996, an average of 5,800 Indian immigrants landed every year in the United Kingdom. This peak was again seen between 1995 and 2005. (Naujoks, 2009)

In the UK its is under the Work Permit Schemethat additional foreign expertise is being invited to the country, in IT related occupations, health and medical occupations. It also allows for managers and administrators to migrate, initially on a temporary basis.In 2006 India was the largest foreign national group in the UK, accounting for 37 percent ofithe total number with 35,809 issues in 2006 (International Migration Outlook , 2007, p. 75). Even in the general category, 2006, India accounted for 45,600, nearly a third of the total (International Migration Outlook , 2007, p. 24). By 2007, Indian nationals accounted for over 40 percent of all work permits. (Dhudwar & Somerville, p. 40)

The flow of Indians is steered mainly towards professional occupations in science, technology and health. A massive 60 percent enter science and technology professions alone (Salt, 2007,79). Another field in which Indians immigrants dominate is in the medical profession. Indians are the largest group when seen country wise among registered doctors in the UK.

Indian nationals have increased their numbers (in absolute terms) under other work or work-related visas. Most importantly, this includes the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme and also the Working Holidaymaker Scheme (WHS). Indian nationals accounted for the largest number entering under the HSMP in both 2005 (6,716) and 2006 (9,091)-between a third and a half of all those entering. A much smaller proportion, approximately five percent of the total or 2,285 people came under the Working Holidaymaker Scheme in 2006.(Dhudwar & Somerville, p. 40)

The number of students coming from India has risen steadily in recent years. In 2005/06, India become the second largest provider of foreign students to UK universities. There were 19,205 Indian students in UK Universities in 2005/06 and a further increase in 2006/07, reaching 23,835. According to the British Council, there are currently about 30,000 Indian students in and it is estimated to double to approximately 60,000 over the next five years.

Being the only major European destination for Indians until the 1990s, the United Kingdom hosted about two-thirds of Europe’s ethnic Indian population by 2001.

3. GULF EMIGRATION

GCC (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates)

In these countries the oil boom which lasted from 1973 – 1982 was a major cause for the influx of international labour. After the end of the ‘oil decade’ with diminishing oil revenues and finishing of major infrastructure projects , it was expected that the number of foreign labour would decrease. Also there was a sharp growth of the indigenous workforce due to huge investments in education and vocational training. However throughout the 1990s the absolute number of the Indian workforce actually increased. Expatriates were employed in the private sector at paltry wages, much lower than the national labour force average, thus despite the labor nationalization policy of the GCC, lack of implementation allowed private sector players to continue to employ migrants at very low rates. (Kumar, 2014)

Data on number of workers granted Emigration clearance show that every year from 1992-1997 , there were an average of 4 lakh Indians working in the GCC , with a short decline in 1998-1999 due to most of the countries employing restrictive immigration to control non-Arab or non-national citizens through localization. During this period only about 2 to3 lakh Indians were given clearance. (Winckler, 2010) (Kumar, 2014)

2000 onwards there has been only a gradual increase till 2003 when it hit its previous average of 4 lakhs, this has been due to the demand for skilled and semi- skilled labourers in infrastructure projects funded by the increase in oil revenue. Another push was that during this time the Indian government was also promoting international migration. The consistent growth in number of migrants which started in 1999 ended in 2008 . Since then the trend has plateaued at 6 lakh per year which in absolute terms is still higher than previous decades. This drop can be reasoned to the shift in migrant destinations to eastern destinations such as Japan and Malaysia. Within the GCC countries, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and United Arab Emirates (UAE) are the major destinations of Indians and together they account for more than 60 per cent of the total deployment of Indian migrant workers. One major trend which is emerging is that while the share of KSA has declined significantly from nearly 60 per cent in the early 1990s to nearly 25 per cent by 2007, UAE is emerging as an increasingly important destination with its share registering a massive jump from nearly 10 per cent to 40 per cent during the same period.(Winckler, 2010) (Kumar, 2014)

4.  NEW DESTINATIONS

4.1 Europe

Today, Europe has a large Indian diaspora of about 5 to 8 percent of the entire European population. Indian nationals were the third largest group of non-EU immigrants in the EU-27 in 2008. In 2008 the EU-27 received a total of 93,000 immigrants from India. Most people of Indian origin are living in Western Europe, in particular in the UK. In fact, the UK accounts for two thirds of the Indian community in the EU, with a diaspora of about 1.2 million.(Report by the High Level Committee on Indian Diaspora, 2001, p. 138)(Wiesbrock & Hercog, 2012, p. 2)

Though the traditional immigrant destination has been the UK , in recent years other countries in Western Europe, and increasingly in Eastern Europe, have also witnessed an influx of Indian migrants.Whilemany Indians move to the UK,a large proportion head for EU countries, primarily Germany and Italy, which received 18 percent and 12 percent of the flows, respectively.

Flows into Belgium and Sweden have also slowly increased since the mid-1990s, and about 1,000 Indians come to France each year. However, the Indian community in France, about 65,000 people, is largely composed of ethnic Indians from Madagascar, the Seychelles, La Reunion, and Mauritius.The Indian diaspora counts for 5 to 7 percent of total national population and is the third largest non-EU immigrant group as of 2008. (Gupta, 2013)

Immigration policy have been changed drastically because of a two pronged factor -one is the aging population; and second the lack of technical knowhow that has limited Europe in the international race. In many cases, the increased flow of Indians labourhas been triggered by European governments’ attempts to tap India’s highly skilled labor force.(Gupta, 2013, pp. 3-5)

In the 1980s there were restrictive immigration policy on unskilled and semi-skilled workers, therefore since then itself, only highly educated and qualified professionals have gone to Europe – doctors , engineers and scientists. In the 1990s with the IT boom, policy has been directed towards IT professionals specifically. Germany’s temporary migration scheme, labeled “green card scheme” is an example of this hunt for IT professionals. (Wiesbrock & Hercog, 2012)

Germany and Netherlands have also seen a marked increase in number of Indians, In the last few years.The number of Indians in Germany has grown from 38,935 in 2004 to 48,200 in 2010.(Wiesbrock & Hercog, 2012, p. 4) In Netherlands in 2004 the number of Indian migrants was 621, this number has increased gradually to 3,490 in 2008 to 17,321 in 2010. Indians in Germany have permits for temporary settlement and permanent residence giving them access to jobs, family reunification and opportunity for studies. In Netherlands migrants travel either in search of jobs or under the scheme for family reunification. In fact the number under the former has decreased and the later increased since 2008.(Wiesbrock & Hercog, 2012, pp. 4-5)

With respect to other European countries there have been bilateral agreements signed with Belgium in 2006, followed by agreements with France, Germany, Hungary, Denmark, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Negotiations with other countries in Europe are underway. The agreements provides for social security coordination, and in some cases, an exemption from social security payments for foreign workers remaining for a period of up to 60 months. Also, the Indian government has signed a labour mobility partnership agreement with Denmark . The agreement with Denmark hopes for cooperation between the two countries in various respects, including employment facilitation, organized entry and orderly migration, and exchange of information and cooperation on best practices for mutual benefit of employment for qualified workers. (Wiesbrock & Hercog, 2012, pp. 6-7) As compared to this highly skilled diaspora, the Indian community in Italy consists mostly of, formerly illegal migrants, now being regularized. Most of the Indians in Italy are from Punjab and tend to work on dairy farms and in agriculture.

4.2 Australia

During the last two decades, the emphasis of the Australian immigration policy has tilted infavour of skilled and professional workers. Accordingly a number of skill selective programmes have beenintroduced to attract these workers. However what is of added significance is the fact that since 1996there has been an active attempt to bring skilled workers to Australia on a temporary basis (Hugo 2006).In fact, the proportion of total immigration in the skilled categories has increased from 29.2 per cent in1995-96 to 62.3 per cent in 2003-04. According to 457 visa figures of 2014, Indian citizens account for up to a quarter of the skilled visas ie 23.3 per cent. Statistics also show that 40,100 India citizens applied to migrate to Australia during 2012-13(Indian citizens head immigration queue for Australia, 2014)

Two of the larger categories of skilled migrations are the Skilled-Independent (SI) and Skilled-Australian Sponsored (SAS) (Sassikumar & Hussain, 2008, p. 22)Entry under bothcategories is dependent on a points test. The SI group forms the largest component of skilled migrantseach year. Entry under this category is dependent on a points test. They are selected on the basis oftheir age, skills, and qualifications. Under the skilled or independent migrant selection system, theMigration Occupation Demand List (MODL) identifies occupations to be allocated extra points underthe points test. Though IT skills featured strongly in the past under the SI category, currently it is thehealth professionals who dominate(Sassikumar & Hussain, 2008, p. 22).

4.3 New Zealand

At the 1951 census there were 2,425 Indians in New Zealand. In 1981, they numbered 11,244. But by 2001, the Indian population had surged to 62,646 and as of 2006 they have accounted for 4.9% of all immigrants.(Lal, Reeves, & Rai, 2007)

When one speaks about the Indian Diaspora in New Zealand, it consists of ethnic Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Fijian Indian and Indians. Even then most claim mixed ethnicity. In the 1980s immigration policy eased up and families of the first Indian immigrants came to join their family. Political unrest in Fiji and in 1987 and then again in 2000 , marked an exodus to of Fijian Indians to New Zealand as refugees. Another reason Indians are attracted to New Zealand ists largely an English speaking populace. There are universities for various subjects, which has attracted many students who decide to stay in the country after they finish. (Lal, Reeves, & Rai, 2007)

4.4 Singapore

Since the maritime trade, before colonization , Indians have been settling in south east asia . The Chulias (Tamil Muslim traders from the coastal area) were the earliest Indian traders to come to Singapore. Next came the Chettiars, who were in the money-lending business, Sindhi traders in 1860 and then English-educated Malayalis creating a middle class of Indian professionals. The Sikh immigration started in 1870, mainly as part of the police force and as military personnel. By 1931, Indians in Malaya and Singapore numbered over 620,000 and comprised 14.3 percent of the population.(Lal, Reeves, & Rai, 2007)

The situation in Singapore has not always been harmonious and even till a few years back the Indian community had few achievers with the rest being blue collar workers. However Singapore government’s policies changed allowing for the contemporary influx of white collar workers who are very visible in leading or managing companies in Singapore or working as top-notch professionals -managers, engineers, doctors, IT professionals, et al.(Rapid Growth in Singapore’s Immigrant Population Brings Policy Challenges, 2012)

Until this boom, the Indian labour pool was made entirely of blue collar construction workers and domestic help. Less than 9 percent of Indian migrants (permanent residents) in 1990 held a college degree. By contrast, in 2000 almost 51 percent of Indian permanent residents were college educated.(Lal, Reeves, & Rai, 2007)

Singapore’s Indian citizens have noticeably lower academic credentials: fewer than 8 percent of Singapore Indian citizens have a college degree,as compared to the newly entering highly educated immigrants.Since 2000, the proportion of blue collar workers has halved, from about 15 percent to 8 percent, whereas the proportion of professionals and managerial workers has doubled from about 22 percent to 43 percent of the total India workforce.

The average annual income of Indians between 1990 and 2000 has grown from about US$10,000 to US$22,600—an increase more substantial in the Indian community than in any other ethnic group.

In the past three to four years, the situation has come full circle. National sentiment towards Indians has once again worsened leading to Little India riots in 2013, ethnic tensions and regressive policies being lobbied for. (Kaur, 2014, pp.   8-10)(Rapid Growth in Singapore’s Immigrant Population Brings Policy Challenges, 2012) However Singapore still remains the new ‘in’ destination for not only professionals but also students.

5. REMITTANCE

State wise break of remittances to India 2007-2008, source: Thumbe 2009, 12

India with a recorded remittance of USD 49 Billion is the largest recipient of international remittances in the world (Ratha, Mohapatra, & Silwal, 2010, p. 2). In terms of the percentage of GDP, remittances equaled about 3 percent in 2003 with the sharpest increase in transfers during the period 1991-1997. This trend has only gone to sharply increase up to USD 46.4 billion during 2008-09 from USD 21.1 billion in the year 2004-05(Afram, 2012, p. 17). RBI estimates that 35 percent of international remittance flows originated in the Middle Eastern Region, 35 percent in North America, 20 percent in Europe and 10 percent in other countries. ( Report of the Working Group on the Cost of Non-Resident Indian (NRI) Remittances, 2006, p. 7)

In 2007-08, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recorded $ 43.5 billion as ‘private transfers to India.’ Of this, 50 percent were classified as remittances towards‘family maintenance’, 43 percent as ‘local withdrawals/ redemptions from Non Residen (Stimulating Economies Through Fostering Talent Mobility , 2010)t Indian (NRI) deposits and another 6 percent were classified as personal gifts/ donations to charitable / religious institutions in India. Gold and Silver brought through passenger baggage was another item but with negligible inflows. (Thumbe, 2009, p. 8)

Kerala, with its huge migration stream to the Middle Eastern region (‘Gulf’ countries) accounted for nearly 40 precent of household remittance flows while Punjab with migration corridor to Canada, US and the UK, accounted for another 13 percent. Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh accounted for nearly a fifth of international household remittance flows, with roughly a 50-50 split between rural and urban households. In Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Bihar, international household remittances were directed more towards rural households than urban households while the reverse is observed in the relatively richer States of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Goa.(Thumbe, 2009, p. 11).

In addition to the prominence of Diasporic Remittances in family, regional and national economies, the increased emigration has brought several benefits back to India in the form of FDI, development, technology transfers and philanthropy.

6. RETURN MIGRATION.

In recent years, there has been a noticeable phenomenon of ‘return migration’ from the diaspora – either for a temporary sojourn or on a long term basis. In 200, 40,000 NRI’s returned to India, a hike from the previous year which saw 32,000 return migrants coming back to India . (Stimulating Economies Through Fostering Talent Mobility , 2010, p. 12)

Return migration is considered tobe a triple win.The original sending country reaps some benefits in terms of both money and talents. The receiving country is able to fill up their labour shortages . Individuals are able to earn a fat pay check and upgrade their skills while maintaininglinks within their own country. For the sending country there is temporary out flow of workers, investment by return migrants and finally upgradation of national skill and knowledge base.

The advantage of return migration in addition to monetary gains, is the managerial and technical know-how which stimulates economic growth within the home country. This economic growth in turn attracts more migrants, who add more to the nation’s repertoire.This creates of cycle which benefits the sending country,this return of high skilled migrants is considered the otherplus point of migration after remittance.

An article in the Gaurdian reported that a “large numbers of Indian-born executives decide that job opportunities and living conditions are as good, if not better, in India and make their way home.” One of the interviewed returnees said “Of course, India is still a place of poverty, but in the business world there is an extraordinary sense of optimism. The long term prospects for working here are better.” (‘Brain gain’ for India as elite return, 2008)

The extent of return migration is also dependent on the approach of the government and its policies. If laws and policy donot benefit the migrant, they will not return. Keeping this in mind and wanting to turn around the country’s ‘brain drain’ to ‘brain gain’, the Ministry For Overseas Indian Affairs , setup in 2004 has introduced many initiatives. (Thumbe, 2009) As recently as April 2015, Prime Minister Mr Modi spoke at a press conference on the increasing advantage of return migration for India’s growth . “There is immense scope in the services sector…India’s human resource is our biggest strength,” the Prime Minister said, stressing that the “brain drain” has now become a “brain gain”. (‘Brain drain’ has now become a ‘brain gain’: PM Narendra Modi, 2015)

The Indian government enacted a Foreign Exchange Management Act in 2000 that facilitates foreign currency especially with respect to setting up businesses here. The status of studentswas changed to that of non-residents, allowing them to receive up to US$ 1 million a yearfrom relatives in India.Specific rules have been applied to the taxation of remittances .OverseasIndians can receive a 100% tax reduction on exports from Special Economic Zones. Since 2006, India has signed a number of bilateral agreements to avoid doubletaxation of individuals opening enterprises or moving between India and other countries involved. (Report by the High Level Committee on Indian Diaspora, 2001)

The Indian Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs is encouraging financial flows from emigrants by providing information on investments in a “Compendium on Policies, Incentives and Investment Opportunities for Overseas Indians”. They are also changing laws around taxation to account for Indian citizens leaving India in any year for employment abroad (NRIs) and foreign citizens of Indian origin (PIOs) who come to India for a visit.

In addition to information about possible investment opportunities to facilitate it further an ‘Indian Investment Centre’ (ICC), has been setup, tasked with assisting investments, technical collaborations and joint ventures. The OIFC was launched in May 2007 as a non-profit trust in partnership with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). It provides various services specifically aimed at attracting and assisting NRI investors.

Classification of returning Indians in OIFC’s report called ‘Returning Indians : All that you need to know’, ( 2011, p. 10)

Another important issue is the question of dual citizenship . The Indian constitution doesnot allow for this and has very specific standards by which to check who is or is not a citizen. However in 2005 the Indian government introduced an Overseas Indian Citizenship (OCI)card scheme, which comes close to dual citizenship and the Indian

The OCI scheme was formally launched by the PrimeMinister during the Pravasi Bharatrya Divas at Hyderabad on 7th January 2006. The new rules allows one to acquire a Overseas Citizenship of India (OCl) for PIOs who are citizens ofanother country and i) were citizens of India at the time of or at any time after thecommencement of the Constitution or ii) were eligible to become citizen of India at the timeof commencement of the Constitution or iii) belonged to a territory that became part of Indiaafter 15th August 1947.

The PIO scheme also accounts for the adult child or grandchild of such a citizen or a minor child of any of such person mentioned. Only PIOs in countries that allow for dual citizenship can apply for the card.Successful applicants receive a certificate similar to an Indian passport but in a different colour. OCI holders are eligible to multiple-entry life-long visa. A multi-entry, multi-purpose OCI ‘U’ (Universal) sticker is pasted in their foreign passport. For any length of stay in India, they no longer need to register with the local police authority. Moreover, OCI cardholders enjoy extensive rights that are equal to those of Indian citizens in respect of economic, financial and educational fields, except in relation to acquisition of agricultural or plantation properties. The list of rights currently includes domestic airfares within India, entry fees to national parks and wildlife sanctuaries and inter-country adoption of Indian children. However are also exempted from voting rights and do not have the right to hold constitutional posts like the president, vice-president or a judge of the Supreme Court or High Courts.(Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) Card)

While OCI card holders are not legally entitled to vote, at the fourth Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in 2006, the Government announced that it would consider granting overseas voting rights to the Indian diaspora. This was mostly in consideration of Indian emigrants to the Gulf region who are not able to naturalise in their country of residence, due to the restrictive citizenship regulations of the Gulf states.

However a lot change sare taking place in termns of PIO and OCI cards. Due to the difference in benefits conferred by the two schemes there have been complaints. Those holding a PIO were unable to buy property in India. The need for repetitive visits to local police stations and shorter visa- period for those holding PIOs were also an issue. PM Modi in his trip to the US had promised to address these concerns.The Union Cabinet in February approved an amendment to the Citizenship Act to merge the PIO and OCI scheme. (Cabinet approves amendment to Citizenship Act seeking merger of OCI and PIO, 2015)

The question arises, why are we not seeing the full impact of these projected returns ?

Indian diaspora is characterized by professionals and , the number of emigrants with high enough net income to be able to invest is very low. Addtionally Indian emmigrants do not have sufficiently strong enough familial or business ties or for that matter good relations with the government. The latter of course is being corrected . In a survey by Anja Wiesbrook , respondents said that their return to their country was more transitory rather a permanent decision , making them less inclined towards heavy investments. Additionally return migrants tend to also invest in the household , like being property or , maintaining higher living standards, finance education etc . This makes their participation in economic growth more indirect.(Wiesbrock & Hercog, 2012)

For technical and managerial know how to get transferred and processed, there needs be some initial capacity which Indian organizations still lack on a large scale. Wiesbrook concludes that the positive impact of return migration on economic development of the country is not as great as perceived and in fact if the return migration takes places in too short a period of time i.e., less than ten years, it will create a negative cycle .

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