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Lost Brilliance: India's Brain Drain Phenomenon



Minds ablaze, seeking distant shores,

India's brilliance spreads, but its heart mourns.

Brain drain's toll, a bittersweet song,

Lamenting loss, yet hoping strong.


Satya Nadella, Sundar Pichai, Gita Gopinath, and many others are all of Indian heritage who have risen to the top of worldwide enterprises. But this raises the question of why exceptionally brilliant Indians are finding such possibilities abroad. Is this a symptom of brain drain in India? Since 2015, about nine lakh Indians have thrown up their citizenship, according to reports. Furthermore, since 2014, 23,000 millionaires have fled India.


Source:- https://www.clearias.com/brain-drain-india/


Overseas university education has long been a preference among Indian students. Nearly 7,53,000 Indian students were studying abroad in 2018. According to several news reports, more than half of the first-place finishers in Class 10 and Class 12 tests from 1996 to 2015 relocated and were studying or working abroad, largely in the United States. The toppers are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to student migration. There is a rising sense among students that the current Indian education system is failing to prepare them for the difficulties of an increasingly globalized world. A shortage of new courses is enticing many young Indian students to migrate for higher education abroad.


Millions of qualified workers are leaving for other countries. This has resulted in slower economic growth, fewer inventive capabilities, and a scarcity of skilled labour. Health worker emigration from India to other nations has also had a negative influence on the Indian health sector. Brain drain is a global problem, and emerging countries such as India are particularly vulnerable. While there have been initiatives to solve the issue, such as better working conditions and higher wages, it continues to be a burden for India and other developing countries.


There are numerous causes of brain drain in India. One of the key reasons is a shortage of higher education possibilities, as well as rising cut-offs and competitive tests, which make higher education in India harder to obtain. Better wages and living standards provided by other countries are also important. Other causes include complicated business formation procedures, more taxes, a lesser quality of living, and a deficient healthcare system. Unemployment is also viewed as a contributing factor to brain drain in India. The glamorization of living abroad has also been aided by the representation of NRIs and foreign settings in Bollywood films.


The key cause for permanent immigration is a lack of higher education possibilities in India, which is one of the push factors for brain drain. Access to higher education in India is becoming increasingly tough due to rising cut-offs and a plethora of competitive tests, while students from other countries have an advantage in terms of skills and knowledge.


According to current figures, only 91,927 MBBS seats and 27,698 BDS seats are available to all students. This highlights the significant gap in India between the number of available seats and applications. This is not limited to medical examinations. Similar patterns have been noticed in other elite examinations around the country. Whether it's the coveted UPSC or entrance to IITs, millions of Indians are against each other with an all-too-low success rate. More than 11.5 lakh candidates took the UPSC civil services exam in 2023, but only 13,090 qualified. The UPSC exam often has a success percentage of less than 0.5%. This is when thousands of students spend years studying for exams and pay lakhs of rupees in fees.



Source:- https://www.vskills.in/certification/blog/brain-drain/


Other nation's better salaries and living quality are also key push factors. Other push factors include complicated business formation procedures, more taxes, a reduced quality of living, and a deficient healthcare system. In India, unemployment is also considered as a motivator for brain drain.


For India, brain drain has various effects. It results in lower economic growth, fewer innovative capabilities, and a shortage of skilled labour. Health worker emigration from India to other nations has also had a negative impact on the Indian health sector. Brain drain also leads in the loss of human capital, which is necessary for the nation's development. The Indian government has launched numerous programmes to combat brain drain, such as the Innovation in Science Pursuit of Inspired Research (INSPIRE) programme, which attempts to recruit talented individuals to science studies at an early stage and help them develop the necessary skills. Nonetheless, despite these attempts, brain drain continues to be a big concern for India.


The government can also take steps to increase school quality and give more work opportunities for competent people. Offering high compensation to competent workers may also put an end to their search for better jobs in other nations. To retain skilled professionals in India, political instability must be avoided. To retain skilled people, the Indian government should also provide improved working conditions, social security, and gender equality. To attract qualified professionals, the government should also establish a suitable climate for entrepreneurship and innovation.


The immediate requirement is to understand what motivates people to leave India. As a country, we need to ask ourselves a lot of things. The issues of life quality, work possibilities, social structure, financial and social security, development, gender equality, and freedom in all aspects of life. Do we have all of them? Because if even one goes wrong, the desire to break free and seek it in another country will continue to drive countless Indians to leave India.






Article by:- Natasha

Edited by:- Shree Nidhi



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