On 77th Independence Day, know how brain drain concept has taken back seat of late

Just imagine what would have been the situation had Satya Nadella, Sundar Pichai, Gita Gopinath, Parag Agarwal, Shantanu Narayan and their ilk stayed back in India? 

Like them, hundreds of working professionals as well as talented students used to migrate from India to different foreign countries every year. This migration, which is termed as brain drain, had given rise to so many serious problems in India. The biggest problem was that the country was losing its super-talented people every year. 

Now consider why such exodus took place in the past:

The term brain drain is such a situation wherein highly qualified and trained people leave their own countries to settle permanently in some other developed countries. 

For the rise in brain drain, there are two factors called ‘pushed and pulled’. While push factors are connected to the country of origin, the pull factors are linked to the country of destination. 

Pushed factors are:

The institutions lack basic facilities for research and education

Thousands of engineering graduates and technical persons are unemployed

Political crisis and instability

Lack of healthcare facilities 

Poor quality living standard  

Pulled factors are:

Better employment opportunities

Political stability

Better economic prospects 

Research facilities 

Better career growth prospects 

Better healthcare facilities

Though it seemed of little importance, but in the long-run it had a serious impact on India. It is always believed that if the Indians who go abroad to study or work return to their motherland, they will play an instrumental role in the development of the country. They can be the game changers.

What can stop brain drain?

According to experts, steps should be taken to put an end to this tendency. If the emphasis is given to promote new entrepreneurs, they will create jobs which will slow down the brain drain. This apart, emphasis is also required to be given to make better education facilities, infrastructure and to set up more colleges and universities. 

Some experts also believe that India’s education system should be like the one that can ensure employment so that lakhs of engineers can stop searching for jobs abroad.

Here is how brain drain has taken a back seat in the last decade:

The graph of the brain drain from India is recently showing a downward trend, thanks to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s mission for an 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' or self-reliant India and the initiative ‘Local for Vocal’.

The prime objective of the Atmanirbhar Bharat campaign is to develop entrepreneurship. 

India has become the third-largest startup ecosystem in the world. Because of this, there are ample employment opportunities for youths.

Similarly, the number of women entrepreneurship is also increasing. 

It is to be noted here that the number of startups in India has grown from around 350 before 2014 to 90,000 in 2023.

Similarly, the tendency of Indian students going to foreign countries for higher studies has also seen a reverse trend. This is happening because educational institutions with infrastructure at par with those in abroad have been coming up. Not only infrastructure, but also quality education is also being imparted. Because of this, students from foreign countries have now started coming to India to pursue higher studies. 

Another reason that has slowed down the brain drain is the law and order situation that has improved significantly. 

Because of the above factors, Indian skilled professionals who have been trained in foreign countries like the US, the UK and Australia have started returning to India.

Finding the environment suitable, these highly skilled and experienced returnees are setting up startups. 

Moreover, cities like Mumbai, Noida, Bangalore, Gurgaon and Hyderabad are also offering career opportunities and Western-style environments for technology and research institutions, tech parks and multinational firms.