ST ALOYSIUS COLLEGE (AUTONOMOUS) MANGALURU
Project Report on the topic titled
“BRAIN DRAIN- THE GREAT INDIAN MIGRATION”
Submitted to St Aloysius College (Autonomous), Mangaluru as a part of
Continuous Internal Assessment
By
DEENA RIYA DSOUZA-223425
KEVIN WARREN MONTEIRO - 223438
MOHAMMED INSHAL KHALIFA - 223448
NIREEKSHA - 223455
Under the guidance of
MS DESHEL LEVINES FERNANDES
Faculty of Commerce
St Aloysius College (Autonomous), Mangaluru
NOVEMBER 2022
ST ALOYSIUS COLLEGE (AUTONOMOUS)
LIGHT HOUSE HILL ROAD, MANGALORE-575003
CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that DEENA RIYA DSOUZA-223425, KEVIN WARREN MONTEIRO –
223438, MOHAMMED INSHAL KHALIFA – 223448, NIREEKSHA - 223455 have
successfully completed the project work on the topic titled “BRAIN DRAIN- THE
GREAT INDIAN MIGRATION” under my guidance.
This project report is submitted to St Aloysius College (Autonomous), Mangalore as a part of
continuous assessment.
Date: 30/11/2022
Place: Mangaluru MS DESHEL LEVINES FERNANDES
(PROJECT GUIDE)
DECLARATION
We Hereby declare that the Project Report titled “BRAIN DRAIN- THE GREAT INDIAN
MIGRATION” submitted by us, to Department of Commerce, St Aloysius (Autonomous)
Mangalore as a part of continuous internal assessment, is our original work and done under the
guidance of MS DESHEL LEVINES FERNANDES. Further, we declare that it has not been
submitted for the award of any other degree, diploma, fellowship or any other similar prize or
titles.
DATE:30/11/2022
PLACE: MANGALURU SIGNATURE:
DEENA RIYA DSOUZA-223425
KEVIN WARREN MONTEIRO - 223438
MOHAMMED INSHAL KHALIFA - 223448
NIREEKSHA - 223455
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We are very beholden to St Aloysius College (Autonomous) for giving this opportunity to undertake the
group project study as a part of the fulfilment of bachelor’s degree in commerce.
We consider it to be our pride and privilege to extend our gratitude to our principal Rev. Dr Praveen
Martis S. J, St Aloysius College, Mangalore for giving us this wonderful opportunity of being a part of
this prestigious college and for all the help and assistance extended to us during our study in the college.
Our esteemed guide MS DESHEL LEVINES FERNANDES, Assistant Professor, deserves all
appreciation and thanks for patiently and effectively guiding us throughout the preparation of this project.
Last but not the least, we thank our parents, our friends and everyone for providing us valuable
information required for the project and most of all their support and cooperation.
DEENA RIYA DSOUZA-223425
KEVIN WARREN MONTEIRO - 223438
MOHAMMED INSHAL KHALIFA - 223448
NIREEKSHA - 223455
TABLE OF CONTENTS
SERIAL NO. PARTICULARS PAGE NO.
1 Introduction 1-5
2 Literature Review 6-8
3 Data analysis and Findings 9-12
4 Conclusion 13-15
5 References 16-17
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
Brain Drain is defined as the emigration or migration of individuals of talents and skills from
developing or under-developed countries to developed ones. It means impoverishment of intellectuals,
professionals, and technical resources of one country and enriching another. It is also known as the mass
departure of skilful resources from a country. It brings a potential economic decline to the nation. Brain
Drain subjects to a vital threat before a country. This migration results in a great loss to the countries
where they are born and educated. Higher education is one of the important reasons for permanent
emigration.
The term ‘Brain Drain’ was first used by the United Kingdom in 1960 when the skilled workforce
started emigrating from the developing countries to the developed countries. It refers to the situation when
highly qualified and trained people leave his/her own country to permanently settle down in other
developed countries. Brain Drain is also known as Human capital flight. With the beginning of
globalization, ideas, opinions, skills in the form of labour started being exchanged between the nations.
This concept of Brain Drain is a matter of serious concern for any nation because it takes off
individuals from their homeland to another foreign land. Often people go abroad to pursue higher
education and settle there because of better work and attractive pay packages. Talented, skilled, and
experienced professionals migrate to other countries for better career prospects. They get attracted by
better standards of living and quality of life, higher salaries, access to advanced technology, and more
stable political conditions in the developed countries which lead to migration from less developed
countries.
THE GREAT INDIAN BRAIN DRAIN:
Brain Drain is not a new problem for India and research of many like Dr Subba Rao in Medicine,
Satyendranath Bose in Physics are few to quote who worked with foreign institutions and spent their
careers abroad. Today's export of top Indian students to foreign nations, especially US is a fine example
of brain drain which exemplifies that this is not a thing of the past.
How real is the problem of brain drain in India?
Several news reports suggest that in India more than half of the first rankers in Class 10 and Class
12 examinations during 1996-2015 had migrated and were studying or employed overseas, mostly in the
US. The toppers are just the tip of an iceberg of student migration. There is this growing sense of
dissatisfaction generally, among the students that the current Indian education system is inept at preparing
them for the challenges of the increasingly globalised world. The lack of innovative courses is drawing a
lot of young students to leave Indian shores for better education overseas. A major reason why India’s
young, skilled labour force leaves is in search of better rewards for their effort and talent. And better
salaries are not the only motive for the out-of-India migration of skilled professionals, it is the overall
social safety net that is one of the main reasons for families to relocate out of India. While the U.S.
continues to be the favourite destination, Canada is quickly catching up. The idea of a welfare state where
a family’s basic needs of education and health are taken care of or are available at quite an affordable
price, is too good an offer for someone to refuse.
When it comes to Brain Drain, it is not just the students or young skilled professionals who are
eager to go abroad. But now there is another emerging trend among the millennials who, for one, are
leaving India for mental peace and the freedom to live the way they want to, without the rigid societal
diktats and rules which the Indian society thrusts down our throats. Yes, things have changed in India, but
the pace of social change has been quite sluggish, to say the least; while the world over, especially in the
West, the pace of change seems far more rapid.
Why are Indians emigrating?
Indian competence, linguistic prowess, and a higher level of education are a few of the attractions
for countries, which have eased visa rules to attract talent. As the opportunities become scarcer here, the
foreign countries are ever more aware of the multi-talented Indian engineers, doctors, and scientists with
English language prowess as well.
The reasons for this brain drain can be substantiated into a few key categories: Push factors and
pull factors. The Push factors are the factors connected to the country of origin and Pull factors are the
factors connected with the country of destination.
Push factors for brain drain:
1.Lack of higher education opportunities: The increasing cut-offs and legion of competitive exams
make access to higher education difficult in India. Abroad, they have an advantage over students from
other countries in terms of skills and knowledge.
2.Lack of financial research support: India’s Gross domestic expenditure on research has stayed at
0.7% of the GDP for years. India has one of the lowest GERD/GDP ratios among the BRICS nations. So,
the minds in R&D tend to migrate to other countries to continue their research.
3.Lower income: Developed countries offer better pay to sectors like health, research, IT, etc. Income is
one of the main triggers of emigration from India.
4. Non-recognition of talents: The chances of being recognized in one’s field are difficult in a populace
this large and with conventions preferring the glamour world over academic talent; bright minds choose
foreign countries where their work is appreciated more.
Other push factors are,
➢The basic facility is not congenial for research and education in the institutions.
➢Under-employment for thousands of engineering graduates, scientific and technical manpower waiting
for respective assignments.
➢Political instability.
➢Poor quality of living.
➢Limited access to health care facilities.
➢Less economic opportunity.
➢Lack of opportunities.
➢Low and eroding wages and high cost.
➢Low prospect of professional development
Pull factors for brain drain:
1.Better standard of living: The developed countries provide better living standards, salaries, tax
benefits, etc, which becomes a great attraction for emigration.
2.Improved quality of life: It is unarguable that the facilities available abroad are yet to be matched with
by developing countries, and hence till that level of life quality is achieved, migrations will continue.
3.Societal pressure: Indian youth are becoming more liberal and personal with their life, and the society
here is yet to come to terms with the kind of lifestyle. Hence, the pressure to live a certain way among the
Indian society is curbing the freedom of choice of today’s youths, encouraging them to seek western
countries where the society is more liberal non-interfering.
4.Easy migration policies: The developed nations are easing migration policies to attract talents to boost
their economy. They target Asians specifically to take up intellectual labour.
5.Better remuneration: The better pay and living standard offered by developing countries is, of course,
a foremost reason for emigration.
Other pull factors are,
➢Better Economic prospects.
➢Better working conditions and employment Opportunities.
➢Relative Political Stability.
➢Modern Education System and better opportunities for higher qualifications.
➢A better chance of advancement.
➢Advanced technology and research facilities.
MAJOR PROBLEMS FACED BY INDIA DUE TO BRAIN DRAIN:
➢Shortage of skilled and competent people.
➢Tremendous increase in wages of high skill labours.
➢In private sector, high pay scale and bankruptcy.
➢In government sector, low wages at senior level, power hungry, corrupt and
incompetence.
CHAPTER 2:
LITERATURE REVIEW
OBJECTIVES:
➢To Understand the Brain Drain Position in India.
➢To analyse human capital flight in various areas.
➢To analyse how it is impacting on economy.
➢To suggest the best measures, discourage human flight to other countries.
The theories behind the concept of brain drain are various and they have been developing over
the years. Studies on the subject are quite recent and the term ‘brain drain’ was coined in 1963 by the
British Royal Society to describe the outflow of scientists and technologists from UK to Canada and the
United States during the 50s and 60s(Giannoccolo,2009).
The terminology around brain drain is numerous, starting from the different definitions of brain
drain. In fact, in an OECD report (1987), the concepts of brain exchange and brain drain waste are
mentioned for the first time; the first expression means a circular migration of workers, who return to the
home country with more skills than before leaving and the second means a waste of skills of the worker,
who is employed for a position that requires less skills than he possesses. Brain return is mentioned for
the first time in a paper of Glaser (1978); it means that students and skilled workers are more committed
to return to the home country.
In the early studies, all the literature about the subject was oriented on the negative effects on the
sending country due to the loss of human capital (Romer, Lucas). Only in the late 90s, some papers started
to analyse a possible positive outcome for sending countries, so that brain drain became brain gain.
According to Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary Brain Drain is “The Movement of highly
skilled and qualified people to a country where they can work in better conditions and earn more money.”
Brain Drain can also be named as “human Capital flight” because it resembles the case of capital flight,
in which mass migration of financial capital is involved. India Population is around 123 crores, that to
India is labour intensive country, from India every year most of the people are migrating to other countries
for better working conditions and for better salaries and benefits. They are the category of people
Scientists, Engineers, Technocrat's, Professionals, software engineers, Software Consultants, Students
etc.., India is becoming brain reservoir, for developed economies. Every year most of the people are
leaving from developed countries to developing countries. Throughout the world nearly in 110 countries
Indian brains are occupied well position. Due to these all-things India and its strength is decreasing interns
of Skills, Knowledge, efficiency, Technology, etc.., This Paper main focusing on what are the causes of
Brain Drain, what are the facilities, amenities, and things that we must provide to overcome brain drain
in India economy. The Government of India estimated that there are nearly 30 million Indian Diaspora
spread across the world.
Classification of Brain Drain:
In General Brain Drain is Classified in to four types 1. Brain Overflow 2. Brain Expert 3. Brain
Exchange 4. Brain Drain
1. Brain Overflow: Due to the over production or low rate of utilization of brain, some of the brains may
remain wholly unabsorbed/ surplus because of effective demand/excess supply at home, such brain spill
over and get absorbed in a foreign market. Brain migration of this type is called brain overflow. Baldwin
(1970) mainly depends on this type of brain migration, and it is also implicit in the analysis of
Internationalist model. In many LDCs, unplanned and comparatively cheap education added up with
unemployment problems has produced a lot of unemployed skilled labour. For instance, in January 1965,
there were 75,000 unemployed engineers in India. India every year produces many more economists and
statisticians than she could provide with job.
2. Brain Expert: Brain migration may take the form of brain export by the sending country. The brain
exporting country receives in exchange for brain, remittances continuously over several years. The
payment may be spread over a few years in the form of remittance of tax, it may be a once-forever lump
sum exit tax. A consolidated price for the export of the commodity brain power may also be realized from
the importing country but the computational method that can be applied to price fixation of brain has
obvious limitation. Market price of brain power does not very often reflect its public cost. In the case of
brain export, the exchange price must be equal to the public and private cost of brain. Since the outgoing
human capital from, LDCS mostly received only the private cost, and not the social cost, such as an
outflow cannot be considered to constitute brain export. However, it cannot be denied that it is very
difficult to calculate the social cost; and shadow price keeps on changing along with the time horizon. If
the rate of return is sufficient to cover the domestic opportunity cost of the transferred brain, it may be
looked upon as a case of brain export.
3. Brain Exchange: Brain migration may be in form of exchange of scholars, researchers, and students
between LDCs and DCs/ between LDCs themselves for the purpose of mutual benefits in terms of
knowledge, expertise, and training. Such type of brain migration can more appropriately be called brain
exchange. Brain exchange is temporary phenomenon where brain loss is compensated by corresponding
brain gain.
4. Problems of Brain Drain in India: There are so many Problems regarding brain drain in India. There
are certain categories of the people like Doctors, Lawyers, Scientists and Engineers and Professionals
people and technocrats and other category of intellectuals are moving from India to other countries every
year. Due to this reason, there is a problem to India economy in terms of knowledge migration, skill
migration, talent migration from India to other countries. There are many reasons for migrating from one
country to other country they are there may me lack of support to expert people in terms of financial
support and resources and support from government, these reasons are making Indian experts to leave
India and render the services to other countries. The well-developed economies and developing economies
are utilizing the services of the Indian professionals and they are paying bugs to Indians. Indian
government should understand this problem they should support to the Indians not to leave form India.
For writing this paper I have taken certain articles and their support for effective presentation. I would
like to thank for authors who have supported through relevant articles.
CHAPTER 3:
DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS
BAR GRAPH SHOWING STUDENTS MOVING ABROAD OVER
THE YEARS
700000
600000
500000
400000
300000
200000
100000
0
2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
The above bar graph shows the number of students immigrating abroad over the years for higher
education. We see that in the year 2018 the students moving abroad is above 4 lakhs. In the consecutive
year, the immigration rate has increased. In 2020, the pandemic (covid 19) led to sharp drops in
immigration. The accelerative march of brain drain seemed to be halt with every passing day of
pandemic. The year 2022 shows immigration of first three months. In the first three months of 2022,
1,33,135 students left India for academic pursuits, an increase from 2020 when 259,655 students studied
abroad. In 2021, there were 4,44,553 Indians – an overall increase of 41% in just one year.
Which Indian states send most students abroad?
• Andhra Pradesh (12%)
• Punjab (12%)
• Maharashtra (11%)
• Gujarat (8%)
• Tamil Nadu (7%)
• Karnataka (5%)
As you can see from the data above, most students from Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, and Maharashtra migrate
abroad, which are among the richest Indian states with presumably high awareness of the benefits of
foreign education. Industry experts say Andhra has consistently led in sending students abroad. Karnataka
may be recording relatively fewer departures as locally, there are more options for education, business,
and employment. Also, many candidates complete their studies in the state and fly out for jobs later.
What are the most popular countries for international students from India?
The number of Indian students studying abroad is constantly increasing, making them one of the largest
international student communities in the world. As of January 2021, 1.09 million Indian students were
studying in 85 countries. Most of them prefer anglophone nations. According to data collected by Study
portals, the top five countries where Indian students choose to go abroad are Canada, Germany, U.K,
Australia, U.S etc.
SKILLED PERSONELS WHO IMMIGRATED ABROAD:
According to the government data, more than 28 lakh Indians went abroad for employment between
January 2020 and July 2022 .
The UN World Migration Report 2020 put the number of Indians living abroad at over 17.5 million, the
highest in the world. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
(OECD), India has 3.12 million highly educated migrants.
In India out of every 8 talented people, 2 people leave the country for pursuing opportunity in other
countries.
INDIANS WHO GAVE UP THEIR CITIZENSHIP:
90000
80000
70000
60000
50000
40000
30000
20000
10000
0
U.S.A Canada United Australia Germany Italy
Kingdom
2019 2020 2021
According to the recent information from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), more than six
lakh Indians renounced their citizenship in the past five years. In 2021, till September 30 around 1,11,287
Indians have given up their citizenships.
In the past two decades, there has been a continuous outflow of Indians, except during the 2008
financial crisis and in 2020-21 due to Covid-19 related travel bans.
CHAPTER 4:
CONCLUSION
Indian government should understand the problem of brain drain and its consequences towards
economy. Government should support for all category of people not to leave from India, by supporting
financially, technically, and professionally. Where there is an effective utilization of human knowledge is
possible then there, we can see the growth rate of economy in terms of all aspects.
Overall, Brain Drain is a widespread phenomenon these days. Many developing and under-
developed countries are suffering from the loss of talents and skilled professionals like India, Africa, and
Arab countries. The governments and private firms should take some strict measures to control this by
aiming towards a better and friendlier atmosphere. They should provide better working conditions,
improve infrastructure in educational institutions, create more employment opportunities, increase
salaries, and develop rural places. Making laws and strictly implementing them should check
discrimination and bias at workplaces. Incentives should be given to youngsters from going abroad in
search of work. These action plans can solve the problem of Brain Drain.
In the past few decades, Brain Drain has become one of the major issues in India considering the
migration of intelligentsia to countries in Europe, America, and Australia in search of better prospects.
In order to solve the issue of brain drain, various steps have to be taken by all forms of
organizations- governmental, non-governmental, profit-based, public-private partnerships, etc. There are
some basic initiatives that can tackle brain-drain which are:
• Rural Development − Villages form the soul of proper and effective development in India.
The ‘Young India’ wants to contribute to the progress of the nation, but the issues crop up
when there is a dearth of opportunities. There can be various employment opportunities
developed in the sectors of education, women empowerment, agriculture, handicrafts, etc
where highly skilled youth can contribute to the development and earn a decent income
through their contribution.
• Tackling under-employment − The companies recruiting employees should take utmost
care to resolve any form of underemployment in their organization. A person should be
given job based on his interest, calibre, and academic merit. The designation and post
assigned to a person plays a very important role in the performance and efficiency of work.
• Proper payment policy − The salary paid to an employee is one of the determining factors
for the job satisfaction. The payment needs to be structured and proper monetary incentives
should be paid whenever necessary. The salaries are one of the most important economic
factors that lead to brain-drain as the employee finds the payment attractive in the other
countries.
• Taxation − There are a lot of reviews by economists who strongly believe that the taxation
policy in India leaves much lesser scope for savings. Also, the allied issues remain in the
dissatisfaction of taxes not being utilized to solve various issues in the country. Taxes thus
hamper the mindset of a person in two ways by pinching their pockets and with issues like
corruption, red tapes, etc.
• Placements in the country − More Indian companies in pharmaceuticals, electronics, ICT,
etc should employ the recent graduate with lucrative packages, allowances, and decent
working conditions. This helps in encouraging the youngsters to work in India itself and
earn the benefit of their merit.
• Work Culture − It is a known fact that most organizations in India do not work on strong
principles and work culture. This leads to politics within an organization, communication
gaps, absence of grievance redressal, etc leading to stress and anxiety in the employees.
Many employees migrate to countries abroad with expectation of decent work atmosphere
in lieu of staying with improper work culture.
Some schemes have been devised by the government to bring back Indian scientists like-
• ‘The Ramanujan Fellowship, Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research
(INSPIRE) Programme’ to encourage scientists and engineers of Indian origin from all
over the world to take up scientific research positions in India, especially those scientists
who want to return to India from abroad.
• The Ramalingaswamy Fellowship, for providing a platform for scientists who are willing
to return and work in India.
• Vaishvik Bharatiya Vaigyanik (VAIBHAV) summit: Under this, Numerous overseas
Indian-origin academicians and Indians participated to form ideas on innovative solutions
to several challenges.
• Scheme for Transformational and Advanced Research in Sciences (STARS), Scheme
for Promotion of Academic and Research Collaboration (SPARC), and Impactful
Policy Research in Social Science (IMPRESS) with the common objective to boost India-
specific research in social and pure sciences.
• Scientists who have emigrated for several reasons are recoverable assets who can play a part
in developing opportunities at home. However, recovery requires the opening of diverse and
creative conduits.
• Foreign professionals could be used to develop innovative graduate education opportunities
at home and technology to be transferred to areas of national priorities for research and
development.
• Building an enlightened leadership and an enabling national scientific community, with the
help of expatriate citizens, for the coherent development of scientific and technological
capacity in developing countries will be mutually beneficial.
CHAPTER 5:
REFERENCE
1. Dr. Mohammad Reza Iravani., Brain Drain Problem: A Review International Journal of Business and
Social Science Vol. 2 No. 15; August 2011.
2. Simon Commander, Mari Kangasniemi, and L. Alan WintersThe Brain Drain: Curse or Boon?
ASurvey of the Literature: Acced data from Internet.
3. Raveesh S. Brain Drain: Socio-Economic Impact on Indian Society: International Journal of
Humanities and Social Science Invention ISSN (Online): 2319 – 7722, ISSN (Print): 2319 – 7714.
4. Binod Khadria, India: Skilled Migration to Developed Countries labour Migration to the Gulf: Acceded
from Internet.
5. www.Wikipedia.com/brain Drain.
6.Tactful Management Research Journal • Volume 2 Issue 5 • Feb 201
7. WWW.indiatimes.com\
8. : https://www.deccanherald.com/specials/the-great-indian-outflow-sets-off-another-brain-drain-
debate-1069354.html
9. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/great-indian-brain-drain-jitender-girdhar-/
10. https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/how-the-great-indian-brain-drain-is-taking-a-toll-on-
the-economy-7896471.html
11. The "Brain Drain" Problem: The Case of India – Sebestian Meyer
