Why many NRIs would rather stay abroad than come back to India

By Justice Markandey Katju-

Justice Markandey Katju

(Justice Markandey Katju is a former Judge, Supreme Court of India, and former Chairman of Press Council of India. The views expressed are his own.)

Indians settled in USA and other Western countries (NRIs) are doing much better financially than people originally from those countries.

As mentioned there, while an average American earns $65,000 per year, a white American $66,000 per year, and a Chinese American $85,000 per year, an average Indian living in America earns $120,000 to $125,000 per year.

NRIs (non resident Indians) constitute 1% of the population of USA, but own half the hotels/motels there. One third of Silicon Valley start ups have an Indian founder or co-founder.

But back in India, conditions for most of the 1.43 billion Indians living there are terrible, with massive poverty, record and rising unemployment, appalling level of child malnutrition (every second child in India is malnourished, according to Global Hunger Index, and India has slipped in recent years from position number 101 to 107 among the 125 countries surveyed), skyrocketing prices of essential commodities, almost total lack of proper healthcare (57% Indian women anaemic), good education and housing for the masses etc.

The average employed Indian earns $2,200 per year, i.e. $6 per day. Contrast this with the $120, 000 per year which the average NRI earns abroad.

The NRIs who migrated to America and other Western countries were mostly highly qualified professionals (engineers, doctors, scientists etc) who wanted a better life for themselves and their families. But it is not that all of them are selfish and unpatriotic.

Many of them would gladly come back to India, and work at a fraction of the salary they are presently earning, provided they are given proper respect in India, proper working facilities, and have the satisfaction that they are contributing to the growth of the country.

In this connection it may be mentioned that after the Chinese Revolution of 1949, many brilliant Chinese scientists who had been living for many years in America and working in scientific institutes or as professors in the science departments of top U.S. Universities with high salaries, gave up their jobs and high salaries and moved back to China on a small fraction of their salary and relatively much lower living conditions, as they were motivated by a feeling of patriotism, and felt they were contributing to building up a new China.

The political leaders and people of China treated such returning scientists as heroes, gave them a lot of respect, and all facilities to continue their scientific work, thus contributing to China’s rapid economic and technical progress.

Similarly, I am sure that many NRIs would gladly give up their high paying jobs in America and other Western countries and return to India, and work on only a fraction of the salary they were getting, provided they are given proper respect, given all facilities to continue their scientific work, and made to feel that they are contributing to India’s economic development.

But things being as they are, this is unlikely to happen. If they come to India today with such patriotic motivation, they will soon get frustrated. They will get little respect or facilities, and they will soon realize that our politicians, of all parties, are least interested in India’s transformation from a poor, backward country to a highly developed, highly industrialized one, with our people enjoying a high standard of living, but instead are only interested in power and pelf, by winning the next elections, by hook or crook, and by polarizing society by inciting caste and communal hatred. Hence our politicians will take little notice of such returning scientists and engineers, or give them any respect or facilities.

They will then soon wish to go back to the Western country from where they came, and regret ever coming to India.