Modi wanted to reverse brain-drain but Indians continue to give up their passports in droves

[prasad1]

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A growing number of Indians are renouncing their passports, and it’s the opposite of what prime minister Narendra Modi set out to achieve.

More than 600,000 of them changed their citizenship between 2017 and 2021, Nityananda Rai, the country’s junior home minister, told the Lok Sabha of parliament yesterday (Nov. 30). India does not offer dual citizenship yet, and people seeking citizenship in other countries must give up their Indian passports as per law.

Nearly 100,000 passports were surrendered each year since 2017, data shared by Rai showed. Till Sept. 30 this year, 110,000 people had taken the step—the most in five years.

These data are in tandem with the increase in the number of Overseas citizens of India (OCI) cards the government has issued since the policy was launched in 2006. The foreign ministry’s website puts that figure at 1.3 million as of May 2013. Recent estimates, though, suggest there are six million OCI cardholders across the world.

An OCI card is issued to people of Indian origin for ease of travel and other administrative hurdles in India after having given up their Indian passports. Many of them may have even applied for the card long after switching passports.

Nevertheless, this sustained desire to leave the country, even if it meant giving up Indian citizenship, runs counter to what the Modi government promised to achieve in 2014—a conducive environment in the country that draws talent and reverses the brain-drain.

In the US alone, the most number of H-1B visa applications—nearly two-thirds—continue to come from Indians.

It may also have something to do with the Indian passport’s global unattractiveness.

India on the Henley passport index
India ranks poorly on the passport index brought out by Henley & Partners, a global citizenship and advisory firm based in London. The index assesses each country’s document based on the number of destinations it allows a person to visit without a prior visa.

As of 2021, India’s rank is 90 among 199 on the index. It has consistently dropped from 74 in 2013, the year before Modi was elected as prime minister.

Modi wanted to reverse brain-drain but Indians continue to give up their passports in droves

Nearly 100,000 passports were surrendered each year since 2017

qz.com

 

[renuka]

A growing number of Indians are renouncing their passports, and it’s the opposite of what prime minister Narendra Modi set out to achieve.

More than 600,000 of them changed their citizenship between 2017 and 2021, Nityananda Rai, the country’s junior home minister, told the Lok Sabha of parliament yesterday (Nov. 30). India does not offer dual citizenship yet, and people seeking citizenship in other countries must give up their Indian passports as per law.

Nearly 100,000 passports were surrendered each year since 2017, data shared by Rai showed. Till Sept. 30 this year, 110,000 people had taken the step—the most in five years.

These data are in tandem with the increase in the number of Overseas citizens of India (OCI) cards the government has issued since the policy was launched in 2006. The foreign ministry’s website puts that figure at 1.3 million as of May 2013. Recent estimates, though, suggest there are six million OCI cardholders across the world.

An OCI card is issued to people of Indian origin for ease of travel and other administrative hurdles in India after having given up their Indian passports. Many of them may have even applied for the card long after switching passports.

Nevertheless, this sustained desire to leave the country, even if it meant giving up Indian citizenship, runs counter to what the Modi government promised to achieve in 2014—a conducive environment in the country that draws talent and reverses the brain-drain.

In the US alone, the most number of H-1B visa applications—nearly two-thirds—continue to come from Indians.

It may also have something to do with the Indian passport’s global unattractiveness.

India on the Henley passport index
India ranks poorly on the passport index brought out by Henley & Partners, a global citizenship and advisory firm based in London. The index assesses each country’s document based on the number of destinations it allows a person to visit without a prior visa.

As of 2021, India’s rank is 90 among 199 on the index. It has consistently dropped from 74 in 2013, the year before Modi was elected as prime minister.

Modi wanted to reverse brain-drain but Indians continue to give up their passports in droves

Nearly 100,000 passports were surrendered each year since 2017

qz.com

Its such a big decision to migrate.
I can never imagine of leaving the land of my birth.
Isnt it hard to adapt?
I admire how Indians from India adapt so well in western countries.
God knows how they manage.

 

[prasad1]

When you are a foreigner in your own country (we all are to an extent), it is one more step when you migrate out of your country. Giving up citizenship of the mother country is more difficult than adapting to a new culture (at last for me).

But the economic prosperity helps and creating or joining a group of ex-pats helps.

 

[SPR]

A country where we have no respect for knowledge, expertise and experience and the least an opportunity to get a decent wages, who will stay? "Go across the seas and earn as much as you can" திரை கடலோடியும் த்ரவியம் தேடு) was told to us right from childhood. Mr Modi and all o (closed for so many bad administrative practices. If a person stay as a good citizen elsewhere he is not disturbed But in India if you are a law abiding citizen, you can never get your rightful benefits; your life will be miserable. Earlier I used to say, please come back to India; But now I say please go out of India and stay happy elsewhere - May be create a new India there, where you live inline with their policies - That is what was done by British Douch and French people here in our land Let we do it now. - separa