TUESDAY, APRIL 23, 2024
Plastino D’Costa
Henley & Partners in its recent Global Citizens report has estimated that around eight thousand Indians with high net worth are expected to leave India for good, this year. Major reason for leaving, are India’s unfair tax regime, a desire to have a stronger passport and the generation next objective to be transnational so as to have access to global business opportunities.
The report also goes on to say that even if the rich depart it will not have a major impact on India as it produces more millionaires in a year than it loses. Such a silly argument, that we condone the successful leaving because we have the ability to produce more rich people in a given year.
The report also goes on to say that UAE, Australia, Singapore, Israel, Switzerland, USA and Portugal are some of the countries that attract the rich, while India, Brazil, China, Russia and Ukraine are some of the countries on the losing side. One can understand China, Russia and Ukraine on the negative list but to see a democratic India clubbed in the same group shows that our appetite for successful citizens is diminishing by the day.
While Dubai is expected to attract the most in numbers because of their Golden Visa policy that opens up various options, the most significant reason Indians are leaving is because these countries offer the best in class infrastructure for wealth protection. In other words India’s infrastructure is not good enough for citizens so as to be able to trust that the system can protect their wealth. India’s rigged National Stock Exchange scam, controlled from the Himalayas, a case in point.
Most state governments in India usually compete with each other to attract investments to their state; the Central government also does its own road shows and is always on mission mode for big ticket foreign investment with the bureaucracy working towards this goal, and yet we choose not to address issues that will put an end to this new phenomenon of wealth drain that has preceded the old brain drain. Just because we focus on attracting big corporate bucks does not mean we lose sight on the small individual fries.
The sum total outflow of comparatively small ticket individuals can become a sizeable number if one takes the time to add them up. UAE, Singapore, Portugal and the rest are not crazy to focus on high net worth individuals, that might look small individually but balloons into a big figure collectively and at the same time also focus on large cap investments.
The Indian government might argue that they don’t hold an individual’s hand and show them the door; they leave it to their wisdom either to stay in the country or choose the country that best suits their needs. But the government with the right intentions should be raising red flags within as to why so many of its citizens are rushing to leave the country and that too the successful ones. Unfortunately India is living in a phase where most opposition members are compromised with their corrupt deeds and so have forgotten their role to speak up fearing retribution. But India being India this data will eventually come in the forefront when more and more people start talking about it, especially when they find out people they are acquainted with are planning to leave the country. This scenario sounds beneficial to Goa, because when India talks Goa will not be able to hush-hush the exodus of Goans that has been going on eternally.
Goa has never addressed this issue with an open and clean mind, infact the mushrooming of agents that send Goans out of Goa for infinite number of reasons under the sun, only goes on to show that we have made the situation untenable for Goans and while seeking employment might be the lion share of the reasons, we have never touched upon other reasons which compel Goans to leave. A society progresses when we addresses our problems head on and not pretend they don’t exist. For example when was the last time our legislators debated with data as to how many Goans leave the place they love and why do they prefer to live abroad with visits to Goa only limited to a vacation. AAP has two legislators they might as well open this subject and demand data from the government.
Meanwhile, Goa remains the most preferred destination for Indians to reside only goes to show that there is still something good about Goa, compared to the other parts of the country. If Goa is such a big draw, then why are settled Goans making an exit from the place? Has anybody tried to find out and fix it?
By the way fixing can only happen when we identify the reason and for that we will need clear intentions from policy makers. So far our policy has only indirectly encouraged Goans to leave earn the foreign exchange and pour it into Goa’s local economy.
While most of Goa’s consistent exodus has mostly happened due to lack of opportunities, it’s only fair to blame successive governments and their faulty policies. But the recent trend of the rich and successful leaving cannot be entirely blamed on government policies. Our social practices have also not kept pace with the modern world and while our attire seems modern, our mind has not kept pace. It’s a pity that smart Goans choose to leave Goa and prefer not to disturb the status quo of their village for fear of being abandoned. The methods vary village to village or could be common to a cluster of villages. Basically it is a look and learns technique with no rule book, but the end goal remains the same, make life hell for the educated so much so that some prefer to live in cities of Goa and avoid living in their own villages.
This column has space constraints so everything cannot be addressed here. But someday some Goan writer with some historical perspective will have to address these issues village by village in a form of a book if we sincerely want to put an end to Goa’s eternal exodus.
(The author is a business consultant)
