+ All Categories
Home > Documents > India and GCC Countries: Diaspora & Development International Seminar on New Dimensions of Indo-Arab...

India and GCC Countries: Diaspora & Development International Seminar on New Dimensions of Indo-Arab...

Date post: 14-Dec-2015
Category:
Upload: jacob-craton
View: 218 times
Download: 1 times
Share this document with a friend
Popular Tags:
15
India and GCC Countries: Diaspora & Development International Seminar on New Dimensions of Indo- Arab Relations 11-12 August 2009 Department of Arabic Maharaja’s College, Ernakulam N. Shamnad Department of Arabic, University College, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala
Transcript

India and GCC Countries: Diaspora & Development

International Seminar on

New Dimensions of Indo-Arab Relations

11-12 August 2009

Department of Arabic

Maharaja’s College, Ernakulam

N. ShamnadDepartment of Arabic, University College, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala

What is « Diaspora » ?

a Greek word meaning ‘dispersion’, referred to the various

Jewish communities «living in exile outside Palestine»

Now commonly used in a generic sense for communities of migrants living or settled in other countries, aware of its origin and identity and maintaining varying degrees of linkages with the mother country

The great Indian diaspora

20 million Indian diaspora or non-resident Indian community worldwide

Envoys of Enterprise Generating an annual income equal to 35 percent of

India's gross domestic product. Account for an economic output of about $400 billion

(Rs 19,20,000 crore). Migration of Indian Diaspora has not resulted in

'Brain-Drain' but 'Brain-Gain'. Significant contribution towards the growth and

development in India. Contributing towards improved Indo-International

relations

Gulf Cooperative Council (GCC) Countries The 6 Gulf Region States of the Arabian Peninsula located at the west coast of the Arabian Gulf and east coast of Red Sea

1. Saudi Arabia2. United Arab Emirates (UAE)3. Kuwait4. Bahrain5. Qatar6. Oman

Arabian Sea

Oman

UAEQatar

Bahrain

KuwaitArabian Gulf

Saudi Arabia

Red Sea

India in GCC countries An estimation of around 6 million (2008-2009) Indians About 40% of the population in the UAE are of Indian

Semiskilled-unskilled workers : 70%White-collar workers : 20% Professionals : 10%

Over 60% have had little formal education A majority of these NRIs are young males. Usually fed and housed in barrack-like tenements. Most of them are unmarried. Formal and impersonal Interactions with the local people. Drawn to their compatriots of a similar social status or background. A large number of Indian associations based on commonalties Initiative of setting up a large number of schools throughout the region

Source: http:// indiandiaspora.nic.in , Report of High Level committee submitted to Govt. of India on Indian Diaspora in the Gulf States Region

Migration: Why ?

Gulf Oil Boom in 1970s Geographical proximity to India Historical relationship Indian Human capital Big projects in gulf Good Income Increase of unemployment in India

Stocks of Indian Migrant Population in the GCC Countries, Selected years: 1975–2001

Source: Rajan, I. S. (2003), «Dynamics of International Migration from India: Its Economic and Social Implications», Centre for Developmental Studies, Thiruvananthapuram.

0

200,000

400,000

600,000

800,000

1,000,000

1,200,000

1,400,000

1,600,000

No. of Migrants

1975 1979 1983 1987 1991 2001

Year

Saudi Arabia

UAE

Oman

Kuwait

Qatar

Bahrain

Government measures for better migration management

The Emigration Act, 1983 to ensure protection to vulnerable categories

Registration of «Recruiting Agents» The new Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs formed in 2004 «Overseas Indian», the house journal of the Ministry Overseas Citizenship of India: the dual citizenship Proposed migrant right to exercise votes from abroad Introduction of a compulsory insurance scheme: «Pravasi

Bharatiya Bima Yojana» Institution of «Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas» since 2003 Set up of NORKA by the Government of Kerala in 1996 Norka-Roots as an interface between the migrants and the

Government of Kerala since 2002 Pravasi Identity Card- project since 2008 Pravasi Welfare Act 2008

The Big Nos ! No systematic legal policy framework to deal with

emigration out of the country

No documentation of international migration data exists in India, not to talk of its various sub–categories

No comprehensive data are available on women migrants

No studies on the impact of skilled migration on

career choices and educational choices in India

Indian Workers Granted Emigration Clearance by Major Indian States, 2000–2005

0

20,000

40,000

60,000

80,000

100,000

120,000

140,000

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

Year

No

. of

Mig

ran

ts

Kerala

Tamil Nadu

A. Pradesh

Maharashtra

Karnataka

Rajasthan

Punjab

Others

Source: Khadria, Binod (2006), «India: Skilled Migration to developed countries, Labour

migration to Gulf», P 17.

The case of Kerala

About two million people from Kerala work abroad, almost 90% are in the Gulf

One out of every three or four Indians living in Gulf has been a Keralite.

Non-resident Keralites (NRKs) send back close to US$8 billion in remittances annually, more than double the state's tax revenues

NRKs have remitted more than US$42 billion to Kerala in the last 35 years

A common aspiration: «to emigrate to the Gulf, earn a lot of money, get married, and live happily ever after»

Who is this gulf malayalee?

Many are poor, semi-skilled, taken loans, often from moneylenders, to pay recruitment agents, work 12-hour days, live without their families in harsh conditions, earn and send

most of the money home.

Gulf syndrome: Socio–Economic gains and losses

Significant impact on savings. Increase in the consumption of the people in Kerala House building activities Lack of development potential of remittance receipts and

financial bankruptcy later Creation of a climate of resentment against the «new rich»

among the other sections Removal of the «poverty of education» and the «poverty of

health». Enhanced family investment in education. Opening up of a large number of new schools and colleges Rise in unemployment rate due to education Emergence of «replacement migration» of labour into Kerala

from other Indian states Transformation of about one million women into efficient home

managers. Social and psychological problems of the «Gulf Wives» and the

loneliness of the «Gulf Parents»

Reverse Exodus ? More than 2,00,000 workers in the Gulf have returned to India

as a result of the delay in execution of projects due to recession. The workers in UAE seemed to be most affected. The most visible impact on the construction industry appears to

be in Dubai. No official estimate of how many people are returning every

week. The Indian embassy in the UAE could not give precise figures of

returnees. 200,000 to 500,000 gulf Keralites likely to return home by July

2009 – Dr. T.M. Thomas Isaac, State finance minister.

Around 1,500 to 2,000 fishermen from Sakthikulangara were employed in

prestigious sea reclamation projects in the UAE, Due to the recession, almost 90% are back.

Source: The Guardian, Monday 6 April 2009, http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/apr/06/

How to handle the return ?

No all India level fiscal help The ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs was expecting a

budgetary support for setting up a fund for returning Indian workers but the request could not be accommodated in the union budget of 2009.

The state budget, 2009 allotted Rs. 100 cr. for providing soft loans to Gulf returnees

Kerala has set up a loan package to help returnees start small businesses from their homes.

The state-owned Kerala Financial Corporation (KFC) will handle the package for Gulf returnees by providing entrepreneurial loans at a low interest rate.

Kerala has sought the GCC help to rehabilitate thousands of Gulf returnees by contributing to the state government fund.

Source: The Hindu business line, Thursday, Jun 04, 2009

After word:

It is indeed paradoxical that the average per–hour contribution of each employed worker within India to the production of India’s GDP has been amongst the lowest in the world – a mere 37 cents as compared to the United States’ 37 dollars, i.e., one–hundredth of the latter. This is naturally ironical, because the same average Indian employed abroad contributes very high average share to the GDP of the country !!!

Thank You


Recommended