Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Jews, of course, have the most famous and extraordinary diaspora. The Chinese diaspora is the most talked about in recent times. That the Indian diaspora hasn’t quite made the cut, at least in comparison with the Chinese, is not because of the lack of initial conditions. Indians abroad are generally well-educated high-earners who are not up to any organised mischief. If all the investible resources and expertise haven’t quite translated into a transformative force in Mother Country, it is not terribly useful to talk of the NRI’s “lack of patriotism”. A question should be asked, instead, one whether we need to anything differently for NRIs to become more active economic participants, than should be the case for foreign investors in general? It seems pretty clear that the chief ministers, from Buddhadev Bhattacharjee to Narendra Modi, who have booked a seat at the high table of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas celebrations haven’t mulled over this.
Therefore, the time and energy spent on special pleadings for NRI investment, as the chief ministers will do in Hyderabad, may actually be better spent if the key states and the Centre identified policy distortions and removed them quickly. The CMs gathered at the fourth NRI Day jamboree should remember one truth about capitalism: people with money will always go where money can be made, wherever the place is and whoever the people are.
