India is one of the oldest civilizations and was a centre of education in ancient times. India has been a remarkable land for learners.
Some very renowned universities of ancient India were Nalanda University, Takshashila University, Vikramshila University, Valabhi University and Sompura University.
The history of India has a lot many numbers of traces showing that scholars from different parts of the world visited India in search of knowledge.
Hiuen Tsang from China came to India to research and collect Buddhist texts at Nalanda University. Like him, there are a bunch of scholars who visited India in search of knowledge.
In ancient times, India was considered the knowledge hub and learners from distant countries aspired to enroll themselves in Indian universities.
If we talk particularly about Nalanda University, its library was named the ‘Dharma Gunj’ which meant the ‘Mountain of Truth’.
The library constituted of three main buildings, which stood up to nine stories. It is composed of thousands of volumes of books.
It is evident in history that when Muslim invaders set the library on fire, it took about 4-5 months to settle the fire. With this, we can guess the amount of knowledge available in India in that era.
However, if we look into the present scenario and compare the situation with the ancient era, the case has turned upside down.
Indian society these days is attracted to the modern elements bought up by the western countries.
To begin with, the basic element is education. Indian students are attracted to the courses offered by the foreign institutes as they possess more value in the Indian education system and the employment sector when compared with the domestic courses offered.
This is a myth which exists in the employment sector that students who have pursued their higher education in India are not as competent as the students who pursue their higher education in foreign institutes are.
This is leading to the migration of Indian students to other foreign countries for pursuing their higher education and sometimes professional education as well.
The second element is the result of the first element, that the students who are studying in foreign institutes get a job in the same country and they wish to settle their career.
This leads to a reduction in the intelligent and intellectual crowd in India. In this way, those individuals contribute to the development of the other countries and keep India’s growth stagnant.
The third element is the monetary and non-monetary benefits offered by foreign employers. The monetary gains and qualitative benefits are far better in foreign companies as compared to Indian companies.
Very few Indian individuals get jobs of their choice which give them monetary and non-monetary benefits of their will.
The youth in the country are self-growth oriented rather than holistic development-oriented. Instead of living in their own country and trying to grow holistically, the youth is determined in seeking jobs in other countries and contribute to their growth.
These were some adverse elements of brain drain. Brain drains also have some positive effects on the economy.
The individuals who work abroad and their family members who live in India, send them monetary support which increases the foreign exchange reserve of the country.
This increases the paying capacity of the country and hence helps in improving the balance of payment status.
Another positive element is that Indian individuals working abroad make the country proud and bring glory to India.
Brain drains have both positive and negative effects on the economy. The negative effects last long as compared to the positive effects.
Thus, India must focus on developing the domestic situations and opportunities so that the youth power migrating to other countries gets attracted and motivated to establish their career in India.