Brain Drain - Should we feel proud or ashamed

We need neither feel ashamed nor be so proud.  This is global economy and so it is natural that prospective employees choose job where they get the most. Our industries also get the staff and experts as they need. 

Grabbing an opportunity, that makes one well settled and provide a good opportunity to earn is not at all objectionable.

 If one thinks its bad that our talent is being utilized by other Countries, then the Think Tank of this country should think why our talent is being utilized by other Countries. And if the youth is provided the same learning and earning opportunities, there is no necessity for Indian Talent to go to foreign countries spending huge amounts.

The one's who leave the country are educated with tax payers money at fraction of cost if they were to study at the countries they run away to. So they are taking selfish advantage of both countries and are not loyal to their mother country. But those who want to go should be allowed as it reduces stress on job market in India. But they should not be treated as Indian Indians once they migrate out.

Migration a very normal process that happens all over the world , some people may prefer to call it brain drain. People should have the freedom to work anywhere in the world and it is but natural that you would select the best available opportunity that is available anywhere in the world. There may be time in the near future when things may get reversed and India may become the most sought after destination for educated people all over the world, offering the best job opportunities. So, this whole debate about brain drain is futile because migration is a way of life ..

If India wants to take the benefit of their talented students then the country needs to offer a good working atmosphere, scope for progress and obviously a hefty pay package. The cost of living is getting higher and higher, medical expenses are huge, cost of education is high then what's wrong in going for a better package available abroad. After all charity begins at home. Thinking about India and ignoring the requirements of one's own family is not justified at all. To stop this brain drain India needs to wake up and create the best possible opportunities for the talented lot. 

There is nothing wrong if one seeks better education in a foreign country. Then, if one thinks only foreign education can give an edge over others for better opportunities , it's a mistake. A close member of my family without any foreign degree is serving as the Vice President of a renowned IT Company in B'lore.

As some members said it is not just money that is the attraction in seeking jobs abroad because if we see Indians living abroad , most of them lead a middle class lifestyle because earning 4-5 lakh Rupees is a month is like having an earning of 75,000 -80,000 rupees in India. And many of them can come to India for holidays , may be once in 2 or 3 years because of the huge expenditure involved. Some of them even split and visit.

There is also another factor that is more attractive , it is the lifestyle. Everything s neat , travel is regulated and no chaos like we see here and generally polite and well mannered population that is easy to deal with. Travelling to other paces is so much easier when you live abroad and are a immigrant or a citizen or a green card holder of another developed nation with regard to visa unllike here. So, all in all it is the complete package not just money!

The benefits of staying in advanced countries are obvious but the issue is does everyone who leaves the coutry has a brain which can be considered to be a case of drain.

It's only when people with brain leave that it leads to drain.... We have lakhs if indians working as labours in UAE...that does not constitute a brain drain. It's when the intellectuals leave the country... They do research and may be get patents also, these would have belonged to india instead it is with country they migrated to. Govt should take steps to provide the required resources and infrastructure in india..

 Only then these ideas can be implemented for the betterment and advancement of the country 

I feel that people with talent and affinity for any vocation or career should feel free and unrestricted doing what they do and like the best. And they will go to any city of country that fulfils this condition very well. Would Satya Nadela, Amartya Sen, Sundar Pichwai and others would have they been able to reach this peak in their careers had they chosen to stay back in India??? Those who feel and think that such people are disloyal to their country answer this question!

After all, people with an objective and skill to move forward in life will only go there where their work is appreciated and wanted.

Liberty to  choose an avenue or a place for enhancing one's knowledge and Skills is not bad. Going  abroad to earn a Degree of his choice and such Coarse is not available in India, is not an act of disloyalty to the Country.

If persons who fitted like a cog in a wheel abroad where to stay back perhaps they too would have reached high peaks in their careers but in other fields. Why Indians ae expected to rejoice and feel proud of Indians who left the country when they were nobody purely for selfish reasons . We should be proud of persons who stayed in India and have contributed in its progress. The maximum dollars are being sent to India by Indians working in West Asia and not by brainy Indians.

Divya wrote:

It's only when people with brain leave that it leads to drain.... We have lakhs if indians working as labours in UAE...that does not constitute a brain drain. It's when the intellectuals leave the country... They do research and may be get patents also, these would have belonged to india instead it is with country they migrated to. Govt should take steps to provide the required resources and infrastructure in india..

 Only then these ideas can be implemented for the betterment and advancement of the country 

Well said. You clarified in a simple way when a Brain Drain is really called so and when it is not.

Divya is not right to say that the research and patents would have belonged to India. They would not have because such research opportunies simply do not exist in India.

If research opportunities do not exist in India, let India create, if it really wants to make use of the intelligence and Wisdom  for the Development of the Country.

vijay wrote:

Divya is not right to say that the research and patents would have belonged to India. They would not have because such research opportunies simply do not exist in India.

I am trying bring in the same point. India needs to create these opportunities if it wants to harness the talents of Indians.

It is not true that there are no Research opportunities in India. India's emergence in Scientific Research facilities are no less than any advanced Countries. India is fast becoming a place where people around the World go to do any Research. That means more Research opportunities for both Indians and Foreign Scientists.

http://www.sciencemag.org/careers/2007/04/special-feature-research-opportunities-india-upward-trajectory

In the very beginning some of the members have voiced it clearly that to stop brain drain India needs to create better opportunities. It is not right to shout against brain drain and feel that those who went abroad were selfish lot because an educated person would like to utilise his/her total potential. How can we expect that people would stay back in India and remain dissatisfied in their job due to lack of opportunities while they don't lack in their ability? The government needs to work upon this and act fast to stop brain drain.  

Now the Government of India , in an attempt to reduce brain Drain, started taking many measures, which resulted in establishment of new Scientific exchange agreements with the Countries like Japan and Australia. And in the next few years more exchanges are likely to follow.

You are having too much faith in government to create research facilities to keep "brainy" Indians in India. Research  flourishes in organizations whose survival is threatened if innovation does not take place. No Indian industry is under such threat. When they need technology they go and buy it from advanced countries. So why should they invest in R& D. The Indian space program is an exception because it was denied access to technologies by advanced countries for a variety of reasons. As its survival was threatened it rose to the occasion and has developed capabilities which it is now demonstrating with great pride and success. Companies like Google, Microsoft, GE, Philips, Sony, Cannon, Samsung, Apple etc have to innovate if they have to remain in business and they do so and reap benefits. Who is going to give them technology, they create their own technologies. @Rambabu is in his dream world to say that Indian Research facilities are world class. They are not because they are not needed and thus do not exist. India is still down the economic ladder to be able to finance mega R&D within the country.