According to a survey by the International Institute for Migration and Development, Thiruvananthapuram, as many as 2.5 lakh students moved from Kerala in 2023 to various countries for higher education. If so, students migrating from Kerala would be about 20 per cent of the total student migration from India. What are the promptings for such a massive outflow of students from Kerala, where facilities for higher education are aplenty, is a question that calls for serious attention. Such large-scale migration would have a far-reaching impact on the society and economy of the state.
Purpose of Migration
Migrants move to countries where opportunities for employment and facilities for improving their economic prospects are available. Kerala is a state where unemployment, especially among the educated class, is widespread.
According to the Planning Board, the number of people seeking employment by registering with the employment exchange exceeded 29 lakh in 2023. Among them, those with educational qualification at SSLC or above numbered 23 lakh. Technically qualified people exceeded 3.5 lakh. In addition, the labour market is flooded with the addition of one lakh graduates who come out of universities every year.
On the other hand, Kerala is a state where as many as 20 lakh guest workers from other states are employed. Such an anomalous situation emanates because the unemployed hands are not ready to do the kind of work guest workers are ready to perform. They seek occupations in conformity to their social status, and offer a fairly high amount of remuneration. Since such occupations are few, they continue to remain job-seekers.
The countries to which student migrants move consist mainly of the US, Canada, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Germany and other developed countries. The attraction of these countries stems from the scope for employment. The remuneration these countries offer is much higher than the rate in Kerala. A nurse, for instance, who works in the US earns an amount equivalent to `4,00,000 per month. She is capable of owning luxurious houses, cars and various sophisticated consumer durables to the benefit of her family in Kerala. On the other hand, a nurse in Kerala who gets not even one-tenth of the salary of her counterparts in foreign countries, cannot dream of such posh living. Not just nurses, but almost all categories of workers in Kerala cannot dream of such luxurious conditions with their salaries here.
Instances of migrant households displaying lavish lifestyles are rampant in the state. Young boys who see such luxurious lifestyles of migrant households naturally aspire to secure such living conditions for themselves. It is such dreams that propel youngsters to migrate and pursue their studies and secure jobs in unknown lands at heavy odds. Migration may not be a bed of roses for many. Even then, the anticipated gains outweigh the odds.
Danger signals looming over Kerala
Notwithstanding the potential gains to young migrants, danger signals loom large over Kerala’s horizon with the momentum in student migration. Since the students who migrate would also be eligible to acquire citizenship and settle down in foreign lands, the remittances that Kerala is accustomed to getting would not be forthcoming. Furthermore, once the students opt to settle down in such countries, Kerala would be losing the cream of its society. It would be a new form of brain drain without any benefit to the state.
Emigration of students may cause an imbalance in the composition of the population in the state resulting from a drastic fall in the proportion of youth. The Parsi syndrome, in which elders live alone without the company of youngsters, seems to be gaining strength, especially with Syrian Christians. The ethnically different guest workers from other states who fill the vacuum in the labour market may even upset the tranquil atmosphere of village life. Furthermore, the exodus of young boys may leave the countryside with nobody to carry on agricultural operations. The time may not be far off when the garden lands become barren lands.
Conclusion
Since aspirations for a luxurious lifestyle are the primary motive for migration, it may not be possible to curb the outflow of students, at least in the foreseeable future. However, the adverse impact of unlimited outflow calls for corrective measures designed to reduce the tempo of outflow and induce at least a section of migrants to return to Kerala. The creation of employment opportunities that can ensure a fairly good salary stands as the best option for this purpose.
How to create employment opportunities in a state where the invested capital in the factory sector accounts only for 1.53 per cent of the all-India total is the baffling problem. What is discernible in the state is the reluctance of entrepreneurs to invest their capital, apparently on account of what is known as an unfriendly investment environment.
As a way out, they should be induced to invest in Kerala by creating an investment-friendly environment. A consensus on the part of all stakeholders comprising entrepreneurs, trade unions and political classes is needed to evolve an investment-friendly environment. Side by side, the introduction of some kind of enclosure movement, as adopted in England during the Industrial Revolution, can be thought of as a sensible measure to retrieve sagging agriculture in the rural tracts of Kerala.
Joseph K V
Member, Kerala Public Expenditure Committee
(Views are personal)