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Drain
Article shared by Pragati Ghosh
The term Brain Drain has come into limelight with the trend of educated and skilled
people and workforce moving from one country to another to achieve career gains. The
talent of such people as a result becomes available to the nation to which they relocate.
The biggest disadvantage of brain drain is the depletion of talent from the native nation
which may badly need their skills and talent. It is the migration of countrys intellect
which may have otherwise served their motherland and contributed to its prosperity.
Thus, this brain drain or Human Capital Flight as it may be called, becomes a threat to
the growth of countries which lose the human resources, rich in technical skills or
knowledge. This has also increased the disparity in the economic and social prospects
of the countries across the world .The rich and developed nations grow richer and
prosperous while the developing or underdeveloped nations stay poorer and backward.
Brain drain is a global phenomenon affecting the developing nations. The disadvantage
is seen as an economic cost as a part of the training and the education cost which is
sponsored by the government is also taken away with their emigration. Thus the country
which experiences the drain of skilled resources faces the getaway of financial capital
also.
Brain drain isnt a problem of this era only. Even in medieval times, the conquerors
attacked the nation for gold and other wealth and took people of talent and knowledge
with them. This problem became pronounced after Second World War when
progressive nations like USA, the erstwhile U.S.S.R. and Germany etc. began to make
significant advancements in technology and scientific research attracting talent from
foreign nations. Thus men of talent began migrating from less developed nations to
these countries.
The reasons of brain drain are many including the lack of opportunity, political instability,
health risks and many more. Many students leave their native nations for scientific and
technological courses which are not offered by their own country and settle out in the
country of study owing to better career opportunities, lucrative remunerations, security
of life and health all of which lack in their country of birth.
Also they seek professional satisfaction in the country where they work and thus are
ready to continue leaving their own nation. On the top of all this, the bureaucrats of the
country fail to realize the potential and the worth of this intellect and thus they are
unable to retain the cream of researchers and men with extra-ordinary talent. All these
factors combined together trigger the process of brain drain.
Brain drain for the nation from which the emigrants leave to settle into the nation that
promises better work opportunities becomes brain gain for the latter. Even countries like
Europe were faced with the problem of brain drain until the introduction of green card
that helped them gain more brains and compensated for the drained brains.
At present, countries like India, Pakistan and Russia are the sufferers of this problem
and losing their talent very rapidly. Unemployment, corrupt political systems,
inappropriate and unsafe work and social life as well as poor compensation, prompts
the skilled and trained people to leave their own countries and seek promising
opportunities in developed nations where they get more success Under utilization of
talent, inadequate professional tools, lack of growth and unsatisfactory living conditions
are also key factors in the emigration of the skilled workforce from these nations. India
loses around 3 percent of her skilled workforce including teachers, doctors, engineers,
scientists etc. to developed nations like USA.
Brain drain does more harm than is visible from an outer view. Besides depleting the
natural supply of intellectual talent, it reduces the number of dynamic and innovative
talent be it the academics or the booming entrepreneurs. The nations that lose the
talent in turn have to depend upon foreign assistance for technical purposes.
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The technology slowly becomes the onus of the developed nations when they grow
richer with more resources contributing to their progress. Even the migration of medical
practitioners who are highly trained to other developed nations makes the condition of
health care in the native nations miserable. As a result, in case of emergencies and
more complex treatments or surgeries, people from such countries have to bear
expensive travel and cost of treatment and accommodation in nations that provide these
facilities.
As countries lose their talent, its progress slows down and also lacks the contribution of
the highly skilled human force, which has left the nation. It leads to a scarcity of skilled
resources which then began to charge high for their service to the nation and its
countrymen. Poorer nations like Africa suffer the worst from this problem and thus its
development remains hindered.
The issue of brain drain is an international phenomenon and an outcome of the trend of
globalization, but unlike other benefiting affects of it, brain drain has a negative impact.
The problem of brain drain can be effectively tackled. For this, countries suffering from it
have to improvise their own socio-economic conditions and provide better salary scales
and safe and healthy work conditions to their human capital. Better and updated labs
equipped with latest equipment can help retain more scientists and researchers leaving
their country owing to lack of research opportunities.
At an international level, the nations which gain these brains should promise to send
equivalent talent to the nations losing their human resources. Good governance is also
important as they decide the policies that govern the security and standard of living of
its people.
As discussed, some brain drain results from the stage of education only when
individuals move to other nations offering better educational courses. If these individuals
are offered better education opportunities in native countries, the emigration can be
controlled at a preliminary level.
Governments need to show commitment to support research while allowing them to
carry on their experiments freely with much independence. To conclude there is a need
to review the social, political and economic conditions in the nations suffering from
phenomenon of brain drain to provide better security and work opportunities to the
skilled resources in the native nation.
Brain drain has become a major concern of the developing countries especially, India.
The term, which was emerged in 1960s when the skilled workforce started emigrating
from the poor countries to the rich countries in search of better job opportunities and
living conditions, became a hot topic of discussion over the years.
When the expatriates are going abroad in search of greener pastures, India has been
losing its major skilled workforce that includes doctors, engineers, scientists and
technicians. If we analyze the brain drain trends in India, we could find that there are
many reasons why the country fails to hold back its talented youth.
Higher education scenario in India
In the recent years, the cut-offs for admissions became close to 100% in the best Indian
universities. While the institutes are in the race of getting the best students in the
country, the ambitious youth who fail to meet the irrational demands had to
compromise on their dream of occupying a seat in any of the prestigious Indian
universities. This leads them to explore the scope of higher education abroad. Most of
the students who try their luck in higher studies abroad get into good universities as
they have an edge over the students from other countries in terms of skills and
knowledge.
While this is the case of young students, the academically well qualified people prefer
going abroad for higher research because they dont get the best chances, resources and
facilities for research in India.
A recent study conducted by Indian Institute of Management- Bangalore (IIM-B) shows
that the students going for higher studies abroad has increased by 256% in the last 10
years. When 53,000 Indian students went abroad for higher studies in 2000, the figure
shot up to 1.9 lakh in 2010.
The US is the most sought after destination for the students, followed by the United
Kingdom. There are many Indian students exploring study opportunities in countries
in Australia, Germanyand France.
Country-wise data on the number of students going abroad for higher
studies
Country
China
421,000
India
153,300
Republic of Korea
105,300
Germany
77,500
Japan
54,500
Indians in the EU in the beginning of the century were limited to UK, Germany, Italy,
Austria and Spain. But, now, more and more Indians are immigrating to the countries
like Poland, France, Ireland and Sweden. A good number of these immigrants reach the
host countries as students.
Indians
Total EU
2009
2010
2009
2010
11,784
12,852
39,027
40,786
Researchers
658
724
6,228
7,172
Seasonal Workers
4,163
3,783
56,518
114,311
47,844
56,488
546,749
645,493
Total Permits
64,449
73,847
648,522
807,744