It was the movement for ‘swaraj’. It was movement for Independence. It was movement to drive out foreigners.
Another movement is quietly shaping up recently. For convenience lets call it Quit India - 2014. It is in many ways
it represent exactly the opposite motives of the movement in 1942. The movement of 2014 is for getting independence
but not for India , but from India. If a slogan could be given it aptly said as “Bhartiyo, Bharat Chhodo”
Last year , from a batch of around 60 graduate students, approx. 25 students left for studies abroad. This were students
of good caliber and intellect. Pick up any paper or just go for a bike trip of 10 mins in any city, I am sure, you will find advertisement for GMAT / GRE / TOEFL etc. Going abroad has become a dream for many Indian Urban Youngsters. In 2012 around 2.25 Lakh youngsters went for studying abroad legally in six countries i.e US, UK, Canada, Australia,
Germany and NZ. (these does not include illegal migration). These were mostly STEM graduates i.e Science Technology
Engineering and Mathematics.
For a young, dreamful eyes, the future is always hopeful. They carry the optimism and energy to innovate and to grow.
The current status of education, employment and governance in country in context of his or her potential, does play a
crucial role in deciding whether to stay or to migrate. But now, because of extensive availability of information, these
same intelligent mind can compare between the opportunities that exist in various countries for their potential. Despite
their attachment towards motherland , I think the lure of better and stable future, takes them to distant land.
There is no harm in going abroad for studies. One should attempt for getting best knowledge. But it should become a
cause of worry when your bright minds, look outward because there is not much scope of quality education in his own
country. Look at cut-offs of IITs, Delhi University, IIMs in India. They are logic defying. Even half a percentile rank can
make you ineligible for students in this exclusive ivy league institutes. The opportunity cost of achieving less is too much
in India. There are very few options for getting quality education. Consider this : All IITs put together has little less than
10,000 seats. And on other hand we have around 17,00,000 students opting for engineering. It is less than 1%.
Increasing seats is not the only solution but government has to interfere in improving quality. Govt. just cannot
outsource the function of technical and higher education to self-finance universities.
Progress of any country is determined primarily by quality of population and then by quantity. There are basic two
parameters of quality - Health and Education. India is surprisingly more proud in projecting its strength in form of
quantity of young population (demographic dividend) rather than quality of its population. Look at USA, they are
magnet for young and bright minds across the world and that is the main reason for its leadership in technology and
innovation. That is why companies like Facebook, Google, Apple, Microsoft etc and other leader companies in technology
started and are based in US.
Why can’t we have progressive reservation ? I mean we all know and accept that despite deserved reservation for poor
and under privileged section of society the current system does not exactly fulfill its objective. One one hand it is
necessary to bring such sections in mainstream but on other hand it does not mean you cannot do anything to protect
and promote the best intellect of your country. Why can’t we have a system wherein toppers and achievers are given
due priority in all forms of recruitment with higher pay scales. Why don’t we have a system wherein fast learners are
identified and provided special support, orientation and training ? Why can’t we have more start up incubators like that
is in Kerala? Why can’t we have three year tax moratorium for a company formed by college graduates in technology
sector ? Why can’t giving a loan for starting technology business by STEM graduates be in priority sector lending ?
The present craze of our intellectual / resourceful young minds to go abroad for further studies and settle in developed
countries is definitely worrisome. Specially in context of two announcements viz. ‘Make in India’ campaign by Indian govt.
and relaxation of immigration laws by USA. The announcement by president of USA directly competes with future of India.
USA, being a land of opportunities has showcased itself to be more friendly in inviting best minds. This will deprive
countries like India from their best minds, who have been prepared in India but may prefer to work for USA, if they get
chance. We need to respect, nurture and preserve our homegrown talent. It is the right time to understand the
importance of quality human capital. It is the only thing which can help India achieve a path of sustainable growth and
prosperity. We need to be exporting good and services, not readymade Talent.
The government needs to understand why young people are leaving India. In many cases parents are encouraging them
to leave India for better future. For a better future, the level of struggle for survival and gainful employments needs to be
reduced. There has to be a palpable change in governance experienced by citizens. It means easy access to quality
education and healthcare facilities, reduced corruption, faster justice, equal and simple laws, better and reliable
Infrastructure. Let the ‘Quit India - 2014’ movement be there for lazy, dishonest and undeserving people. We cannot
afford to lose good people because of bad governance.