India: skilled migration to developed countries, labour migration to the gulf

Referred to as «Indian Diaspora», an estimated 2025 million stock of Indian migrants is recorded worldwide. This is a function of flows of unskilled, semiskilled and skilled workers from India over last two centuries. Beginning in 1950s, and picking up as «brain drain» in 1960s, skilled migration to developed countries of the North became more prominent with the recent 21stcentury exodus of the IT workers. Beginning with the oilboom of the 1970s, large numbers of unskilled and semiskilled Indian labour have migrated to Gulf countries in west Asia. A paradigm shift about skilled migrants leaving India took place in phases from the «brain drain» of 1960s 1970s to «brain bank» of 1980s 1990s, and subsequently to «brain gain» in the 21st century. Similarly, the labour migrants to the Gulf have been viewed as the main source of remittances, swelling Indias foreign exchange reserves. Both these perceptions need moderation. Section 2 presents a general contextual background of India. Sections 3 and 4 highlight Indias transnational connectivity through skilled migrants in the developed countries, in particular the US. Section 5 is on labour migration to the Gulf. Section 6 is on the socioeconomic impacts of Gulf migration on Kerala, an important Indian state of origin. Section 7 is on the evolution and change in the perception of migration in India. Section 8 analyses measures initiated by the Government of India recently. The concluding section is a commentary on whether and how migration could change society in India and the rest of the South