Brain Drain and Educated Unemployment In India: Research

In a developing nation, unemployment and the brain drain are inextricably linked. Both are examples of underutilizing human resources. Internal brain drain is the loss of qualified workers to unemployment, whereas external brain drain is the loss of qualified workers to other nations. It is evident that any effort to stop the brain drain is not driven solely by a desire to keep people within the borders of their native nation. If that were the case, the answer might be quite easy. Only when there is work to be done and activities that need to be completed in the nation can unemployment and personnel migration become issues. Planning for national reconstruction must take the potential contribution of the employed labour force into account.

While the government has been eager to get a true picture of the unemployment rate for scientific and technical workers both at home and among those who have opted to live abroad, there has been an excessive focus on trying to refine estimates and precise statistics. However, there is no reason why plans of action cannot be developed based on the knowledge that is currently accessible. Moreover, the nation has current statistics that can be used for this.

The term “brain drain” describes the emigration of educated and competent individuals from their place of origin to another (host) nation. The Indian government, as well as various state governments have been deeply concerned about this issue. According to the UN World Migration Report for 2020, India has nearly 18 million migrants living abroad. It is also widely known that one-third of the engineers in Silicon Valley are Indians, and 10% of the world’s high-tech business CEOs are also Indians. The majority of persons leaving India appear to be highly educated, having completed either formal education or vocational training.

According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, this is the greatest score for any nation (OECD).”

With such data, tracing the cause and effects of Brain Drain becomes necessary.  Numerous job options with better income and working conditions may be one of the factors driving Indians to leave their country. Inadequate research infrastructure numerous analysts and scholars contend that another factor contributing to Indian students’ decision to study abroad is a dearth of research. Students losing interest in research owing to lengthy Ph.D. programmes and low incomes can be considered one of the key reasons for India’s declining research sector, increasing educated unemployment, and exacerbating the situation of brain drain.

If the problem of brain drain is not addressed or handled, it could negatively affect  country’s economy. A country’s tax revenue decreases as a result of people no longer making economic contributions. This can then have an effect on a country’s overall GDP. The government might not have enough funds to invest in vital areas like healthcare and education as well as to create jobs. If the government is unable to invest in such vital projects, the brain drain problem will only get worse. This is due to the fact that building up resources and jobs within their own nations is the only effective approach to address the problem and prevent people from being lured to migrate abroad. As a result, for the sake of the nation, the Indian governments must address and quickly resolve this issue.

Author: Nisha Nancy Daniel
Assistant Professor
Rama University, kanpur

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