INTRODUCTION

Migration is the movement of people from one place to another. As long as Homo Sapiens have existed, members of the species have migrated in search of food or to escape from disasters or conflicts. Mankind and migration have been linked to each other since the beginning of time; life without migration could not be thought of. Migration has a history of its own, both at the national and international levels. The mobility of capital and technology has indeed changed the history of peoples. At the same time, migration has created a greater impact on history. According to the International Organization of Migration (2008), there are more than 200 million migrants around the world today and there is enough evidence to show that the rate of international migration has actually increased at a time when the world is getting more globalised. The total number of citizens that have emigrated from India is about 10 million, which works out to just about a per cent of her population.

In India, the cultural ethos of the country has actually dissuaded people from going abroad. There are myths and superstitions surrounding migration in almost every Indian tradition. The fear of kala-pani, literally translated as black waters, which meant ostracism, was a strong deterrent. Such myths were prevalent also in other ancient cultures like China and Japan, preventing people from going abroad. For a variety of
1

reasons, be it economic or cultural or personal, the concept of we and they, and the notions of individual, intellectual and spiritual pollution and the fear of consequent ostracism prevented people from leaving their home soil until the advent of the Europeanswhich in turn stimulated an interest for Indians to migrate overseas.

In the post-Independence era, the end of the Second World War marked a turning-point in the trends of migration, which was spurred on principally by the shortage of manpower. Europe and North America had a large requirement for manpower and many countries on these two continents, which had hitherto followed a policy of restriction of immigrants, took pains to modify the same so that they could open up their countries to migrant workers. Indians formed a part of this history of migration into these countries.

Population movements have been frequent during every epoch. They have often been gradual and related to the search for better livelihoods, lasting for a thousand years. The last century has witnessed new, massive population movements due to internal and nation-state conflicts. Some examples: in 1923, 2 million Turks and Greeks moved in opposite directions, most of them forced to become refugees. Three years after Indian independence in 1947, more than7million Muslims had entered Pakistan and more than 7 million Hindus and Sikhs had left Pakistan for India. In 1994, 2 million Rwandans left their country (mainly ethnic Hutus), and 500,000 mainly ethnic Tutsis had been massacred during the three preceding months. At present, there are approximately 8.4 million refugees and 7
2

million internally displaced people (IDP) in the world.

International migration, the movement of people across international boundaries, has enormous economic, social, and cultural implications in both origin and destination countries. It is estimated that some 180 million people (3 percent of the worlds population) are living in countries in which they were not born (United Nations 2002). Among these are millions of highly educated people who moved to developed countries from developing countries that already suffer from low levels of human capital and skilled workers.

Furthermore, the flow of formal remittances from migrants to their relatives in their country of birth has exhibited a rapid and accelerating rate of growth. The remittance flow has doubled in the last decade, reaching $216 billion in 2004, with $150 billion going to developing countries (Ratha 2005). It surpasses foreign aid and is the largest source of foreign capital for dozens of countries.

As a result of these trends, migration issues have increasingly become the focus of attention, both among governments of origin and destination countries, and within the development community.

There has been extensive analysis of the impact of migration on the receiving countries economies, especially on markets for unskilled labour . However, the links between migration and development issues in the sending countries have been somewhat neglected, particularly as far as empirical research is concerned (Borjas 1999). This oversight is partly due to the relatively minor role played by migration in promoting the integration of developing countries.

Globalization and migration are rapidly transforming traditional spheres of human activity. The work of rural families is no longer confined to farming activities, and livelihoods are increasingly being diversified through rural-to-urban and international migration. Age-old boundaries are breaking down. Development organizations that support rural poor families in overcoming poverty are realizing that essential members of these families are making their living abroad, far away from their dependants. The global village has become a reality. However, the poverty that forced rural inhabitants to migrate still exists in their places of origin and continues to influence their lives and prospects in their adopted countries, as well as those of the people they left behind. Migration is significantly reshaping the traditional social and economic structures of rural communities, in both positive and negative ways.

In addressing rural poverty, one challenge is to take these new social and economic realities into consideration and integrate them into innovative strategies for promoting rural development. The complexities of the migration phenomenon must be incorporated into the development agendas of developed and developing countries, as well as those of development organizations.

Reasons for migration The reasons for migrating are complex and vary from area to area. Migration may be prompted by major economic, demographic and social disparities, as well as by conflicts, environmental degradation or natural disasters. Regardless of their origin and the causes of the relocation of almost 200 million migrants worldwide, their productivity and earnings constitute a powerful force for poverty reduction. Remittances are the financial counterpart to migration and are the most tangible contribution of migrants to the development of their areas of origin.

Mass migration movements are expected as a result of climate change, while agricultural production in many countries and regions, including access to food, is projected to be severely compromised. The areas suitable for agriculture, length of growing seasons and yield potential of some mainly arid areas are expected to decrease. Episodes of heavy rainfall and drought are likely to become more frequent and severe, thus triggering further migration of those already living under difficult conditions. Moreover, the intense movement of people across regions and countries may affect the growth of diseases and
5

pest management systems, thus putting further pressure on food production and the performance of agricultural systems at large.

Many migrants have established a continuous social and economic interaction with their communities of origin and play unique roles as agents of change in both their countries of settlement and of origin. Governments, financial institutions and international development agencies can no longer afford to ignore the ever-growing impact that financial flows from migrants have on the economic and social development of remittance-receiving countries.

What Forces Determine Migration Patterns? Like most other economic flows, migration operates as an equilibrating mechanism. In the presence of wage inequalities, migration permits greater wage and income equality between sending and receiving regions. International labor mobility is subject to restrictive policies and high migration costs when compared with internal mobility. As a result, income levels exhibit much lower variation domestically than internationally.

The principal cause of south-north migration is, in most cases, the difference in (the present value of) expected real wages, adjusted for migration costs. These costs increase with the distance between source and destination countries, and decline with social networks in the destination country. Literature has identified the importance of networks that provide support and information to migrants
6

who are dealing with difficulties ranging from financing the move to other struggles associated with social and cultural differences, such as language and social norms. Migration flows and remittances would be expected to rise with the difference in expected real wages and decline with migration costs.

OBJECTIVES AND SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

There is significant interest in migration statistics both nationally and internationally and there is a need to understand how moves impact on society and the economy. Migration estimates are a fundamental component of ONS mid-year population estimates. These are used by central and local government and the health sector for planning and monitoring service delivery, resource allocation and managing the economy. For further information on how ONS migration statistics are used along with information on their fitness for purpose

The impact of this migration, both from the earlier times and recent, is manifold, beginning with their foreign exchange remittances, which in turn has a multiplier-effect on the economy. Indian migrants are in 110 countries, and forex remittances to the home nation is next only to that of the Chinese migrants. The figure averages $ 5 billion a year from West Asia alone. There is the question of brain-drain in the reverse, as qualified and capable individuals seek fresher pastures, overseas.

-To know the reason for migration(job relocation and overpopulation) -To know how much remittances are collected from migration in the form of foreign Currencies. -To understand the economic, social and cultural consequences of international migration. -To study the pattern of out-migration from India, proportion of emigrants out of total population in a state , also state-wise estimated number of permanent and
8

temporary labour out-migrants. -Distribution of emigrants according to various socio-economic and demographic characteristics like caste, religion, Monthly Household Consumer Expenditure Quintiles, age, sex. -To study further the state-wise distribution and frequency of remittances during the last 365 days across the states. -To examine the trend in long term remittances to the Indian economy during the period 1971-2008.

Not only the UK, the US, Australia, Canada and the Gulf but a large number of countries in the European Union, countries in Africa and Asia are emerging major destinations for Indian emigrants. Moreover, India is not only seen as a source of getting manpower, it also continues to be considered a must destination for internationally renowned educational institutions to woo the Indian students. This provides foreign exchange to the education exporting institutions/ countries and enhances students' educational and economic profile. A foreign degree also opens gateways to enter in the labour market of that country unless the law of the immigrant country prohibits them.

DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

Migration from India has taken place from the very dawn of civilization and there is hardly any part of the earth where Indians are not found today. But, never before in history had India witnessed such massive movements of people from country to other parts of the world as in the 19th and 20th centuries (Rajan, 2003). Since, independence, two distinct streams of migration have left India: people with professional expertise of technical qualifications emigrating to industrialised countries, and semi-skilled and skilled workers emigrating to the Middle East. Most of out-migrants are from Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Goa and Punjab. Remittances are main benefit of international out-migration, providing scarce foreign exchange and scope for higher levels of savings and investments. The World Bank estimates for 2008 put India in the lead at $52 billion, with China and Mexico close behind at $49 billion and $26 billion, respectively (World Bank, 2009).

The data on International migration in India is collected through the two government sources:

-the Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner and National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO). Indian census collects information of immigrants from other countries however, information on out-migration/emigration from India lacks in this particular data source.

10

International Migration Trends: Facts and Figures

Source: International Organization for Migration Global estimates

1. In 2005, it is estimated there are between 185-192 million1 migrants worldwide.

2. In 2000, there were 175 million international migrants worldwide: one out of every 35 person is an international migrant.

3 .Migrants represent 2.9 per cent of the global population.

4. Of these, almost half (48.6%) are women.

5. The stock of international migrants rose from 82 million in 1970 to 175 million in 2000.

Global trends 1.Migration flows have shifted in recent years with changing poles of attraction for labour migration.

2 .In some parts of the world, migrant stock has actually decreased.

11

3 .Although the number of Asian migrants has increased from 28.1 million in 1970 to 43.8 million in 2000, Asias share of global migrant stock decreased from 34.5 per cent to 25 per cent over the same period.

4. Africa has also seen a decline in its share of international migrants: from 12 per cent in 1970 to 9 per cent in 2000.

5. This is also true for Latin America and the Caribbean (down from 7.1% to 3.4%); Europe (down from 22.9% to 18.7%) and for Oceania (3.7% to 3.3%).

6 .Only Northern America and the former USSR have seen a sharp increase in their migrant stock between 1970 and 2000 (from 15.9% to 23.3% for Northern America and 3.8% to 16.8% for the Former USSR). In the latter case however, this increase has more to do with the redefinition of borders than with the actual movement of people.

12

DIAGRAMS

13

Remittances to developing countries will surpass $400 billion in 2012. Officially recorded remittance flows to developing countries are estimated to reach $406 billion in 2012, a growth of 6.5 percent over the previous year. These flows are expected to rise 8% in 2013 and 10% in 2014 to reach $534 billion in 2015.

Remittance costs are still too high, averaging 7.5% in top 20 remittance corridors; the worldwide average cost is about 9%. US Remittance Transfer Rule, to be implemented in February 2013, will increase transparency for consumers and thereby market competition. Officially recorded remittances to developing countries are expected to reach $406 billion in 2012, up by 6.5%

14

from $381 billion in 2011.

The true size of remittance flows, including unrecorded flows through formal and informal channels, is believed to be significantly larger. Compared to private capital flows, remittance flows have shown remarkable resilience since the global financial crisis, registering only a modest fall in 2009, followed by a rapid recovery. The size of remittance flows to developing countries is now more than three times that of official development assistance.

15

RESULTS Preliminary findings show that more than 80 percent of out-migrants have gone to other countries due to employment related reasons. Sex-wise analysis reveals that marriage is the most important reason for the females to migrate whereas around 95 percent of males have out-migrated due to employment related reasons. It is also found that more than half of the emigrants had left country less than five years ago.

16

Results indicate that there were 44,42,245 emigrants living outside the country during the reference period of the survey, i.e, between July, 2007-June, 2008. With the 1.58 million out migrants Kerala had contributed the one-third of emigrants from India followed by Tamil
Nadu (4,98,327), Andhra Pradesh (4,37,404), Punjab (3,86,423) and Uttar Pradesh (3,83,625). The number of temporary labour out-migrants was around 1,10,150 persons in the reference year. They have out-migrated for employment purpose and hence this figure may provide some idea about the temporary labour mobility from India. Interestingly Delhi leads in the temporary labour out-migration with 28,164 labour out-migrants along with Bihar (19,690) and Kerala (18,003).

More than two-third of the emigrants belongs to age-group of 20 to 40. It suggests that outmigration of working age-population is high. Further sex-wise results show that womens proportion is almost negligible in international migration. Findings related to socio-economic background of out-migrants illustrate that majority of the out migrant are from Other Backward Classes and Others caste group. Moreover it is also found that prevalence of outmigration from households of Muslims is higher as compared to Hindus and other religion.

Households with higher economic status, for which Monthly per Capita Consumer Expenditure (MPCE) quintiles is taken as proxy, have higher number of international outmigrants migrants, and the households belonging to the highest quintiles of MPCE have more than one-third of the total emigrants.

17

Results also reveal that percentage of sending remittances was higher among male outmigrants from rural areas (82 percent) than their urban counterparts (69 percent).

On an average Rs. 52,000 was remitted in the reference year of survey by emigrants from rural areas, while this figure is Rs. 73,000 for emigrants from urban areas. We have also found that in last 365 days country had received remittances of Rs. 57,100 per out-migrant and among states Delhi is the leading receiver with remittances of Rs. 2,40,400 in the reference year.

Moreover, we found that in rural areas percentage of households reporting receipt of remittance did not vary much with increase in MPCE as found in case of urban areas.

18

Trends in Remittances: The Quantum Jump in the Globalization Era.

In the balance of payment statistics, remittances to India can be identified as credit on account of net private transfer payments in the current account. Based on these estimate of remittances, a time series data from the period 1971-2008 has been constructed which is given in table 1.

19

20

From the Table 1 and Figure 1, it is clear that the magnitude of remittances to India increased steadily during the 1970s; remained more or less flat in the 1980s and picked up sharply in the 1990s (the sharpest increase took place during 1991-97). The remittances to India increased approximately 20-fold during the period 1991-2008, making India the largest recipient of remittances.

In the absolute term, remittances are around USD 52 billion which is more than any type of capital flow to India including FDIs, FIIs etc. In terms of percentages of GDP at market price, remittances were around 0.02 percent in 1971, 0.78 percent in 1991 and 5.63 percent in 2008.

There are many factors which could be attributed for such a phenomenal rise in remittances during the period 1971-2008: The phenomenal rise in remittances resulting from international labor migration until the mid-eighties may be attributable entirely to the economic boom in the oil-exporting countries and the associated inflow of remittances from Indian workers in the Middle-East. But from the 1980s, the share of the Middle-East countries in the total remittances declined from 77 per cent to around 61 percent in 1990-91 to and further to 22 per cent in 2003 (Sasikumar & Hussain, 2007).

21

The reason for such a decline in the share of Middle- East could be attributable to the geographical spread of the migrants throughout the world. From the early nineties, the increase in remittances has been astonishing (see figure 1) which is due to the liberalization of the exchange rate system fuelled by the large number of Indian professional migration to the USA due to information technology revolution. The market determined exchange rate regime and current account convertibility instituted since the early 1990s have had a considerable influences on remittances inflows.

In the 1990s, migration to USA, Canada, and Australia increased significantly, particularly of information technology professionals. The professional migration to USA seems to have massively preferred the remittances route to the NRI deposits which could be contrasted with the 1980s when NRI deposits (due to interest rate differential and exchange rate guarantee) were the preferred mode of the professional migrants. With gradual withdrawals of the incentives structures for NRI deposits, there was a strong shift to remittances. The speculative nature of these deposits was reflected in the massive fluctuations in the net NRI deposits in the 1990s (see table 1). Due to the massive fluctuations and speculative nature of the NRI deposits, remittances have become a preferred mode of transfer for short term investment (Sasikumar and Hussain, 2007).

22

 Despite the financial crisis, there was sharp increase in remittances to India in 2008 in absolute term. The reason for such an increase in the remittances despite the crisis can be attributed to a switch regarding use of remittances from consumption to investment purpose. The falling asset price, rising interest rate differentials, and a depreciation of the local currency have attracted investment from the migrants (Ratha, Mahapatra and Silval, 2009).

Remittances flows to all developing countries including India was expected to decline in 2009 due to the global financial crisis around the world. This argument was supported by the trend of reverse migration to India especially from the Middle-East countries in the period 2009-10. Middle-East countries couldnt escape themselves from the global financial crisis. The financial crisis around the world was one of the reasons attributed for Dubai-Crisis in December 2009 which is basically due to collapse of real estate sector in the Middle-East countries. The Dubai crisis, to some extent, adversely impacted the remittance flow to India especially the state of Kerala (Times of India, 28th Nov. 2009). But from the recent data, it was found that remittances actually increased from USD 44 billion in 2008-09 to USD 52 billion in 2009-10.

23

24

Remittances are also called the most risk less and least volatile source of external development finance due to several reasons. As it can be observed from figure 2, foreign capital tends to flow more in favorable time and less in bad time, the situation can be explained by taking the example of inflow of FIIs in recent times (there were large capital outflow during the recent financial crisis) in India. But, remittances tend to react less violently and even become countercyclical (increases in bad times). For example, remittances to developing countries continued to rise steadily in 1998-2001 when private capital flow including FDI declined in the wake of East Asian Crisis (see figure 2)

25

26

Impact on the labour market

Much of the popular debate in developed countries on immigration policies revolves around their effects on the labour market. It is a common concern among the native population of countries hosting migrants that immigration could lead to higher unemployment and lower wages for natives. This concern is especially evident in many European countries, where unemployment levels are high and the proportion of the long-term unemployed among the unemployed is large.

Impacts on host countries

From the point of view of the host country, immigration raises three main issues. The first issue concerns the impact of immigration on the labour market in the host countries, where the fear of losing jobs or purchasing power because of immigrants is often widespread among the native population, particularly among those at the lower end of the labour market. The second issue concerns the impact of immigration on economic growth and the third concerns the fiscal consequences of migration, which are becoming more important in the light of the ageing of the population in the developed countries, particularly the countries of Europe, and Japan.

27

REFERENCES

Adams, Richard H., Jr. 1993. Economic and demographic determinants of international migration in rural Egypt. Journal of Development Studies30, no. 1. 1996. Remittances, income distribution, and rural asset accumulation. FCND Discussion Papers 17. Washington, D.C.: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

- 2005. Remittances, household expenditure and investment in Guatemala. World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No.3532. Washington D.C.: World Bank.

- 2006. Remittances and poverty in Ghana. World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 3838. Washington D.C.: World Bank.

- 2007. International remittances and the household: analysis and review of global evidence. World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 4116. Washington D.C.: World Bank.

-Adams, Richard H., Jr., and John Page. 2005. International migration, remittances and poverty in developing countries. World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 3179. Washington D.C.: World Bank.

28

-Adepoju, Aderanti. 2005. Migration in West Africa. Paper prepared for the Policy Analysis and Research Programme of theGlobal Commission on International Migration. Geneva, GCIM. Adhikari, Jagannath.

-Alonso, Jos Antonio. 2004. Emigracin y desarrollo: implicaciones econmicas. La Insignia, Espaa(22 October), www.lainsignia.org/2004/octubre/soc_026.htm.

-Asante, Molefi. 2004. Africa and its diaspora forging ideas of African renaissance. Paper presented at the First Conference of Intellectuals of Africa and its Diaspora, Dakar, 6-9 October.

-Azzarri, Carlo, Gero Carletto, Benjamin Davis and Alberto Zezza. 2006. Choosing to migrate or migrating to choose: migration and labour choice in Albania. ESA Working Paper 06-06. Rome: Agricultural and Development Economics Division (ESA), FAO.

-BAfD 2007. Les transferts de fonds de migrants, un enjeu de developpment: Les Comores, Mali, Maroc, Sngal. Rapport provisoire, October. Abidjan, Cte dIvoire: African Development Bank. Bagasao, Ildefonso F., Ma. Elena B. Piccio, Ma. Lourdes T. Lopez and Peter Djinis. 2004. Enhancing the efficiency of overseas workers remittances. Final report of technical assistance.

29

- Manila: AsDB. Bain, Sheila C. 2003. Improving access to the US banking system among recent Latin American emigrants. Amherst: Center for Public Policy and Administration, University of Massachusetts.

-Barham, Bradford, and Stephen Boucher. 1998. Migration, remittances, and inequality: estimating the net effects of migration on income distribution. Journal of Development Economics 55, no. 2 (April).

-Desai et al (2009), The fiscal impact of high-skilled emigration: Flows of Indians to the US, Journal of Development Economics (88), 32-44.

-Nayyar, Deepak (1994), Migration, Remittances and Capital Flow: The Indian Experience, Oxford University Press, New Delhi.

-Kannan, K.P. and K.S. Hari (2002), Keralas Gulf Connection: Remittances and their Macroeconomic Impact 1972-2002, Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.

30

-Kapur, Devesh (2003), Remittances: The new development mantra Paper prepared for G-24 technical group meeting, Centre for Global Development, Washington DC. Ratha, Dilip (2003), Workers Remittances: An Important and Stable Source of External Development Finance, Global Development Finance, The World Bank, Washington DC.

-Gupta, Poonam (2005), Macroeconomic Determinant of Remittances: Evidence from India, International Monetary Fund, Washington DC. Reddy, Y. V. (1997), Capital Flight: Myths and Reality Reserve Bank of India Bulletin, Mumbai.

31

CONCLUSION

From the above discussion, it is clear that India has already achieved a large and sustained increase in remittances over the year due to phenomenal increase in the volume of international migration. The impact of remittances has been tremendous for both the household as well as the economy like India which is characterized by persistence of abject poverty and lack of opportunity for the abled one in every aspect of their life. Remittances, as a result of International migration, have emerged as one of the most fruitful panacea to get rid of such economic problems.

It was also seen that in a capital scarce country like India, remittances are not simply foreign exchange reserves which can be used to finance the balance of trade deficit or the current account deficit but also a counterpart in terms of source of external development finance (mechanism already discussed). It means remittances within the control of the government should be utilized to finance higher level of investment rather than consumption, if the objective is to maximize development benefits. But for this to be applicable in reality there is a need of the appropriate government policies on mobilizing and attracting migrants remittances and redirecting them to formal channels. The government policies might be regarding providing fiscal incentives such as removing restrictions on repatriation of profits and eliminating needless licensing requirements. Apart from that there is also another important policy option for maximizing the development benefits of remittances is to channel remittances to small and micro enterprises through financial intermediaries as deposits rather than expecting migrants to
32

directly invest. In this case, the policy focus might be to induce micro finance institutions to capture remittances to be in turn used to fuel productive activities.

Today, looking at the size of the Indian Diaspora, comprising Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) and Non-Resident Indians (NRIs), the total stands at 22 million. Of them, 50 per cent are NRIs: North America (US and Canada: 3.2 million), South America (Trinidad& Tobago, Guyana, Surinam, and Jamaica: 1.6 m), Europe (UK, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, etc.: 2.5 m), and Africa (South Africa, Mauritius, East African countries, etc: 2.5 m). The figure stands at 3.5 millions in West Asia, including the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. In South-East Asia comprising Malaysia, Singapore and Myanmar, etc, its 3.5 million. In the Pacific island groups of Fiji, Australia and New Zealand, there are 0.7 million Indians. They also add up to 4.5 million in Sri Lanka and Nepal.

The size of the Indian Diaspora is a force to reckon with. Though brain-drain is the main problem flowing from migration, the migrant talent has been very successful in promoting the nations image in the host countries. The Indian contribution to the life in the adopted country, to the life of the Diaspora is significant.

33

What are the future trends in migration?

There is the possibility of migration from India growing in the coming years and decades. The probability of a younger age population in India coupled with declining birth-rates in the developed world leading to a labour shortage, be it unskilled, skilled or professional, are among the causes. The interface between outsourcing, migration and growing social networks are also contributory factors. There is also the factor of newer destinations, Japan, for instance, emerging on the horizon. In this, the Indians abroad have transitioned from being dependants to being dictators through their significant presence, positional clout and numerical strength coupled with effective networking, and coordinated organisation. There is now the Global Organisation for the People of Indian Origin (GOPIO), which has set its priorities in pooling resources, both financial and professional, for the benefit of PIOs, in the countries they come from, and in India. In all this, India derives material support from the Diaspora, and they derive psychological satisfaction of being a part of the Indian nationhood, and in the process of crafting a resurgent India.

The US remains the biggest destination for immigrants and this number continues to grow.

34

RECOMMENDATIONS

1. Developing migration information systems:

One of the areas requiring immediate policy intervention is the creation of an appropriate information system on international emigration. This would enable closersurveillance and better management of emigration.

The status of out-migrant data can be improved by making the registration of entry by migrant workers mandatory in the Indian missions operating in labour receiving countries.

There is also a need to use border control records for more accurate measurement of international labour migration. International experience suggests that it is possible to extract labour outflow and return flow data on key variables from embarkation/ disembarkation cards.

2. Managing and directing migration flows:

There is an urgent need to manage and direct migration flows from India. It is important in this context that labour markets of the major labour importing countries are closely

35

monitored. This may be done through the establishment of a labour market monitoring authority. The authority has to carry out negotiations on various labour contracts and also study the nature of emerging skill requirements. The activities of the labour market monitoring mechanism should be linked with a comprehensive system of labour market information for all types of employment seekers.

3. Welfare funds:

Although the issue of welfare of families of workers left behind in the home country has come to be recognised as potentially important, there are hardly any policies in this area. It may be worthwhile to consider the constitution of a Welfare Fund for Indian workers abroad. Such a fund can be utilised for a wide range of welfare measures concerned with both the migrant workers and their families. The Welfare Fund could also be of vital importance to women employees in the Gulf who are largely in the category of ara-medical staff and domestic servants.

4. Pre-departure orientation programmes:

One of the most neglected aspects of overseas employment policy in India is the absence of any form of pre departure orientation to the intending emigrants. It is important to recognise

36

adaptability of the workers to changed working conditions and to new socio-cultural environment. It can also influence their productivity levels. The orientation programme can include topics such as religion, the socio-cultural and political conditions of the country of employment, the dos and donts, the contract of employment, description of the jobsite, the duties and responsibilities of the workers, travel tips, procedure on how the workers may handle their problems at the worksite, and advice on remittance procedures.

5. Responding to transformations in labour markets:

Any policy intended to streamline the overseas labour recruitment system in India has to recognise, as a pre-condition, the important transformation that has occurred with respect to expatriate labour market in most of the labour importing countries, i.e. a transformation of expatriate labour market from being a sellers to a buyers market.

6. Financing outmigration:

It would also be worth establishing a government system of offering low interest loans to less well-off emigrants to finance outmigration. Such a system of financing outmigration may also ensure that those emigrants availing the lowinterest loans would resort to formal banking channels to transfer their remittances back home. This would further augment the foreign

37

exchange resources, which are vital for a developing country like India.

7. Utilising resource flows and human capital of emigrants to strengthen development:

There is an absence of any policy framework regarding the effective utilisation of financial inflows from emigrants to strengthen the development process at national or state levels. Similarly, the existing policy regime in India hardly addresses any concerns related to the migration of persons with technical or professional expertise, many of whom are willing to make a contribution to the development process, either in their non-resident status or as returnees. These issues need close consideration at national and regional levels and effective policies need to be formulated which can integrate development concerns with the migration process.

Apart from above, there is also a need to improve the infrastructure (physical as well as human) of the country so that remittances to reach at higher level trajectory. The higher level trajectory is needed for the capital and technological scarce economy like India. With the presence of adequate remittances as foreign exchange reserve, India can finance its need of capital for its economic development. The most important macro-economic impact of remittances is on the BOP (particularly current account) and through that on the economy as a whole. Hence, it is necessary to consider the magnitude of remittances in the context of BOP.

38