Day 61 – Q 3.India’s global diaspora is a diverse and a well spread out community. In what ways their links to the motherland affect the local economy and society? Analyse.

3. India’s global diaspora is a diverse and a well spread out community. In what ways their links to the motherland affect the local economy and society? Analyse.    

भारत का वैश्विक प्रवासी एक विविध और एक अच्छी तरह से फैला हुआ समुदाय है। किस तरह से मातृभूमि के लिए उनके संबंध स्थानीय अर्थव्यवस्था और समाज को प्रभावित करते हैं? विश्लेषण करें।

Introduction:

As per the UN’s International Migrant Stock 2019, the Indian diaspora at 17.5 million is the largest accounting for 6.4% of the global migrant population. The US, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, Myanmar, the UK, Sri Lanka, South Africa and Canada host an Indian diasporic population of at least one million each.

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Diaspora affecting local economy:

• They impact the economy by contribution through remittances. According to a World Bank report released in April, India was the largest remittance-receiving country in the world, with an estimated $69 billion in 2015.
• When they visit India, they tend to spend more lavishly than the locals, thereby helping economic activity. 
• Indian diaspora adds to the local economy through bio-tourism and tourism due to historical and religious links. E.g. Ayurvedic treatment in Kerala, Buddhist or Jain historical places and so on.
• NRIs are more prone to donating to domestic charities because of the strong cultural and emotional feelings that they nurse.
• They bring technical and domain expertise to domestic startups and often act as angel investors. Diaspora Indian faculty abroad volunteer time and resources to help faculty on Indian campuses improve the quality of education — as in the case of member institutions of the Indo Universal Collaboration of Engineering Education.
• The migration of less-skilled labour (especially to West Asia) has also helped in bringing down disguised unemployment in India.
• The Diaspora population bring technical and domain expertise to domestic startups and often act as angel investors. 
• Indian diaspora can bring deposits for specific development programs. As per a report, if just 25 per cent of the diaspora population invests the maximum amount, this could bring in $400 billion in new investments to India.
• The diaspora has also impacted society and maintain communal harmony. E.g. Compared to other Indian states, Kerala has a history of relatively peaceful Muslim-Hindu-Christian relations, providing a good basis for co-existence and multicultural understanding.

Conclusion

As our PM said “The world is seeing India with a ray of hope and our diaspora can play a crucial role in further spreading it”. With a little commitment and some creative thinking, the government could double or even treble the already substantial economic value of diaspora contributions by carefully designing a set of policies to exploit the talent, industriousness and patriotism of those living abroad.