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Imagine you are a policy advisor to the Indian government. What are the three key recommendations that you would make for immigration and/or emigration policy reform in your country – and why? Make sure to support your recommendations with discussion and analysis of relevant data and research.

In this report three main areas of policy reform will be outlined that the Indian government should implement. The areas of policy reform are focused on the topics of immigration and emigration in India. Briefly, the suggestions are that the government introduce more vigilant border control, allow more skilled workers with foreign qualifications to practice their occupations in India, and, make it easier for people to start businesses in India.

To start with, presently, border control measures in India are quite lax. Especially, the borders at Meghalaya and Assam are extensively covered in forestry which makes it difficult for the Border Security Force (BSF) of India to patrol them. In addition, these porous borders are perfect for militant groups, particularly from Bangladesh, to enter India undetected. [1] For example, according to a leaked intelligence report, leaders of two chief Bangladeshi extremist groups (Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh and Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami) have entered India through Assam. This is a huge national security threat to India; had the BSF been more rigorous in their patrolling and border checks, the two terrorists may have never been able to enter India with their fake passports and pose a threat to Indian citizens. [2]

What makes it even easier for illegal immigrants to enter India, is the common knowledge that many of the BSF workforce accept bribes – i.e. corruption is widespread. A black, informal market has formed in India where authoritative, powerful Indian border guards exploit poor immigrants who intend to come to India for hope of a better life. It has been reported that as little as Rs 2,000 (£24.53) is accepted as a bribe. [3] BSF officers should not have the incentive to take these bribes and betray their country.

There are not many reliable sources of statistics which present the magnitude of the illegal immigration problem in India. This is because the issue is often overlooked and it doesn’t have much importance in the political realm. However, some censuses in India have been analysed to find that there are probably more than 20 million illegal Bangladeshi immigrants in India. [4] Despite the fact that this is only a marginal proportion of the total Indian population of 1.35 billion people, it only includes immigrants of Bangladeshi origin. [5] A more controlled approach to border security in India would provide the government with more accurate statistics that they could use to plan and implement more effective, successful immigration policies.

Furthermore, in order to improve regulation of immigration to India, the Indian government should engage in bilateral agreements with India’s neighbouring countries of Pakistan, Afghanistan, China, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Bhutan. [6] The Indian government has formed extensive bilateral agreements with the EU, however, there has been less emphasis on the countries that they share their borders with. [7] If India were to create more agreements with its neighbours, the countries involved could work in cooperation to combat terrorism and give more control to the governments regarding illegal

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migration. For example, India could make an agreement with Pakistan where the border control officers of both countries work together to identify and capture terrorists trying to cross the border. However, it is understandable that there may be complications if eight separate agreements were made; there could be difficulty in ensuring continuity of Indian policy across the agreements. [8]

Bangladesh and India had made an agreement called the Coordinated Border Management Plan (CBMP) in 2011. Unfortunately, it was unsuccessful due to a failure in implementation, i.e. corrupt BSF officers. [9] Therefore, it is clear that the Indian government should heavily penalise any members of the BSF if they are found to be participating in any form of corruption. More education on ethics and the consequences of corruption in addition to stricter surveillance of the BSF could be introduced at first, so that the BSF officers are unmistakably made aware that the government does not condone any non-compliance with their policies. [30] This would act as a strong deterrent to corruption, resulting in more manipulative, deceptive officers and migrants being caught, as well as fewer innocent migrants being exploited. [10]

Secondly, certain groups of migrant workers, particularly lawyers, have foreign qualifications which are unrecognised by the Indian government. This seems to be disadvantageous to the Indian economy as there have been studies that indicate India has a shortage of judges – there are approximately 17 judges per million of the Indian population in comparison to 75 judges per million of the Canadian population and 107 judges per million of the American population. [11]

Recently, in early 2016, India’s finance minister publicly announced his approval of allowing foreign lawyers to ‘carry out limited practice in the country’. [12] Despite the fact that this is a step in the right direction, it is simply not enough to fill the lawyer labour shortage that undoubtedly exists in India. To illustrate this statement, a recent data analysis has revealed that there are 28 million pending cases in district courts across India. It is estimated that ‘at least seven times’ the current number of working staff available are needed to ‘overcome the crisis’. [13]

Moreover, encouraging more high skilled labour emigration will have positive economic outcomes for India since the vast majority of native Indian workers are low skilled. The agricultural industry employs the most people in the country (according to the World Bank, 51% of total employment in India is accounted for by the agricultural sector) and agricultural work is mainly associated with low skilled work. [14] Second to agriculture is the construction sector in which 83% of the people employed are low skilled as shown in the table below. [15]

Table 1: Employment in Construction Sector by Education Level of Workers

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To add, in comparison to various other countries around the world, India has a significantly large proportion of its population who have received absolutely no education at all. Approximately 33% of the Indian population above the age of 15 had received no education in 2010 compared to 7% in China, 0% in Germany, 3% in Korea and 1% in Australia. [15]

All of the statistics mentioned above confirm India’s need for an increase in highly skilled workers, especially lawyers. There are a variety of ways in which this can be achieved. The Indian government could set up a temporary migration program (TMP) for certain high skilled professions which have a labour shortage in India. The United States has recruited high skilled migrants from India using this strategy via the H-1B visa temporary migration program. [16] Following the introduction of this program in 1990, many Indian workers have immigrated to the U.S. and contributed greatly to the IT industry – 58% of H-1B visas were awarded to migrants with computer related occupations in 2001 [17] which played a significant role in boosting economic growth in the U.S. from 1.9% in 1990 to 4.1% in 2001. [18]

There’s no reason why India can’t try to implement a similar policy attracting lawyers and other high skilled professionals from around the world. The only drawback is that if the rights of the temporary workers are restricted too much, it may discourage migrants from participating with the program; therefore, the Indian government should be considerate of migrant rights when planning a TMP. [19]

The last policy reform that the Indian government should consider implementing would be to make it easier for individuals to start businesses in India. This is because, currently, the President of the United States is threatening to reduce the number of H-1B visas being issued and Indians are the largest recipients of such visas. After Mexicans, Indians are the

Figure 1: Percentage of Population (15+) by Education in 2010

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‘second largest immigrant group’ in the U.S. In addition, the number of Indians entering the U.S. is increasing year by year as illustrated in the figure below. [20]

It has also been reported that ‘the proportion of Indian-founded start-ups in Silicon Valley has increased from 7% to 15.5% from 1999 to 2012 even though Indians make up just 6% of the Valley’s working population’. Even the CEO of Google, Sundar Pichai, and the CEO of Microsoft, Satya Nadella, are Indians. [21] The above data show that since fewer Indians will be able to immigrate to the U.S. in the coming years, they will need more opportunities to set up businesses and live the life they dreamed of living in the U.S., in India.

The Indian economy has been growing at an average rate of 7.30% over the past 3 years [24], but despite this, 26 days is how long it takes to start a business in India today; this is a huge improvement from 2003 when it took 123 days, however, it is more than 4 times as long as it takes in the U.S. (6 days) and it is more than 5 times as long as it takes in the U.K. (5 days). [22] This huge time lag is caused by the 16 procedures that an individual has to go through before they start their business. [23] Some alternate issues regarding the start-up of a business include: the cost of starting a business which is 49.8% of income per capita, obtaining a construction permit if needed which would prolong the start-up even more as it takes 34 procedures and 196 days, getting electricity which is immensely time consuming, dealing with taxes (33 tax payments a year taking an average of 243 hours’ worth of time per annum), importing or exporting which is restricted by multiple layers of bureaucracy, and lastly, if a person is in heavy debt once their business is set-up, it takes about 4.3 years to balance the books. [25] All of these factors, and more, discourage entrepreneurship in India, and prevent India from becoming a technological, business hub like Silicon Valley.

The Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi’s, made plans to make it easier for people to build start-ups in India. He announced a new program, called Start-Up India, which has new, reformed policies including ‘tax exemption to start-ups for 3 years’, ‘providing funding support’, ‘legal support and fast-tracking patent examination at lower costs’ and ‘credit guarantee fund for start-ups’. [26] These initiatives were launched in January 2016, however, in 2016 there were 67% fewer start-ups being founded than in 2015 which saw an

Figure 2: Indian Immigrant Population in the United States, 1980-2013

Sources: Data from the U.S. Census Bureau 2006, 2010 and 2013 American Community Surveys (ACS), and Campbell J. Gibson and Kay Jung, ‘Historical Census Statistics on the Foreign-born Population of the United

States: 1850-2000’ (Working Paper no. 81, U.S. Census Bureau, Washington, DC, February 2006) https://www.census.gov/population/www/documentation/twps0081/twps0081.html

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87% increase in start-ups. [27] This data suggests that the outcomes of the Start-Up India program have not been particularly successful as of yet.

A suggestion to the Indian government is to increase taxation on large corporate firms who have been long established in India as they seem to have monopoly power in the markets. This extra revenue could be used to help finance the most ambitious, innovative start-ups founded by the Indian people. In addition, corruption needs to be urgently tackled – in a survey conducted in India, 60% of respondents felt that ‘corruption and bureaucratic inefficiencies’ were the biggest hurdles to creating a successful start-up. [28] This shows that the Indian people have unique, ground-breaking start-up ideas, however, they feel as though the government is the biggest obstacle standing in their way. This shouldn’t be the case. It is extremely important that there is stricter investigation of government officials who are suspected to be corrupt. More deterrents could be introduced such as heavy penalties and loss of authority for anyone convicted of corrupt behaviour. [29] Active public involvement to report corruption should be encouraged as studies have shown that this curtails corruption. [30] This will restore trust between the Indian public and their government which will allow them to work together in order to dampen emigration from India, accommodate Indian citizens who may no longer be able to immigrate to the U.S., and encourage innovation within the country.

To summarise, although the Indian government has taken steps to improve some of the policies mentioned in this report, one common reform which has a significant impact on all areas of the Indian economy is corruption. A corrupt government drives citizens away from the country, leading to less modernisation, regulation and control of the country. There needs to be stricter measures to reduce corruption of the government, such as increased surveillance, possibly initially conducted by trusted, foreign bodies. [29] If people lose faith and pride in their country and decide to emigrate from India, it could result in a ‘brain drain’ of the India – a highly unfavourable outcome.

Note: A lot of statistics used in this report were extracted from newspaper articles which are viewed as unreliable sources of information. Unfortunately, there are not many trustworthy, dependable sources of information regarding migration in India so this report largely relies on journalistic articles, although, significant efforts were made to use data from reliable institutions such as the World Bank.

References:

[1] http://www.firstpost.com/india/assam-meghalaya-cops-claim-infiltration-by-five-islamic-terror-suspects-bsf-denies-2882104.html (date accessed: 25/03/2017)

[2] http://www.benarnews.org/english/news/bengali/india-infiltrated-01262017154024.html (date accessed: 25/03/2017)

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[3] http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/kolkata/paid-bribe-to-bsf-man-to-enter-india-says-nun-rape-accused/ (date accessed: 25/03/2017)

[4] http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Two-crore-Bangladeshi-immigrants-illegally-staying-in-India-Centre-informs-Rajya-Sabha/articleshow/55457903.cms (date accessed: 25/03/2017)

[5] http://www.indiaonlinepages.com/population/india-current-population.html (date accessed: 25/03/2017)

[6] http://www.mapsofindia.com/neighbouring-countries-maps/ (date accessed: 25/03/2017)

[7] CARIM India, 2013, ‘Facilitating Migration between India and the EU: A Policy Perspective’, author: Pralok Gupta

[8] International Organization for Migration, 2010 Free Movement of Persons in Regional Integration Processes , Geneva, IOM

[9] http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/bangladesh-india-ink-border-deal/article2308225.ece (date accessed: 25/03/2017)

[10] http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/punjab/community/eight-involved-in-infiltration-bid-caught-on-bsf-cameras/305128.html (date accessed: 25/03/2017)

[11] http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/India-has-17-judges-for-a-million-people-5000-posts-vacant/articleshow/51860142.cms (date accessed: 25/03/2017)

[12] https://www.law360.com/articles/749110/india-moves-closer-to-opening-up-for-foreign-lawyers (date accessed: 25/03/2017)

[13] http://indianexpress.com/article/india/district-courts-2-81-crore-cases-pending-5000-judges-short-across-india-4475043/ (date accessed: 25/03/2017)

[14] http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.AGR.EMPL.ZS (date accessed: 25/03/2017)

[15] COMPAS, University of Oxford, SKOPE Research Paper No. 111 November 2012, ‘Shortage of Skilled Workers: A Paradox of the Indian Economy’, author: Ruchi Hajela

[16] https://qz.com/830005/election-2016-donald-trumps-actions-on-the-h1-b-visa-are-still-unclear-but-it-wont-be-good-for-indian-it-firms-and-students/ (date accessed: 25/03/2017)

[17] http://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/temporary-high-skilled-migration (date accessed: 25/03/2017)

[18] https://www.statista.com/statistics/188165/annual-gdp-growth-of-the-united-states-since-1990/ (date accessed: 25/03/2017)

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[19] Castles, S., 2006 ‘Guestworkers in Europe: A Resurrection?’ International Migration Review vol 40

[20] http://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/indian-immigrants-united-states (date accessed: 26/03/2017)

[21] http://www.firstpost.com/business/more-than-just-sundar-pichai-and-satya-nadella-indians-now-the-biggest-power-players-in-silicon-valley-2387058.html (date accessed: 26/03/2017)

[22] http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/IC.REG.DURS (date accessed: 26/03/2017)

[23] https://smallb.sidbi.in/%20/policies-regulations/guidelines-procedures-starting-new-business-india (date accessed: 26/03/2017)

[24] http://www.tradingeconomics.com/india/gdp-growth-annual (date accessed: 26/03/2017)

[25] https://www.tmf-group.com/en/news-insights/business-culture/top-challenges-india/ (date accessed: 26/03/2017)

[26] http://www.startupindia.gov.in/index.php (date accessed: 26/03/2017)

[27] http://indianexpress.com/article/technology/tech-news-technology/startup-india-2016-not-a-good-year-as-new-startups-decline-by-67-4476320/ (date accessed: 26/03/2017)

[28] http://www.thehindu.com/business/Corruption-delays-hamper-startups-in-India-survey/article13982764.ece (date accessed: 26/03/2017)

[29] Hanna, R., Bishop, S., Nadel, S., Scheffler, G, Durlacher, K. (2011) The effectiveness of anti-corruption policy: what has worked, what hasn’t, and what we don’t know–a systematic review. Technical report. London: EPPI-Centre, Social Science Research Unit, Institute of Education, University of London

[30] https://www.oecd.org/site/adboecdantico rruptioninitiative/policyanalysis/ 35022355.pdf (date accessed: 26/03/2017)