Pied Pipers Inc

The ongoing raids at residences belonging to singer Daler Mehndi and his brother Shamsher Singh once again highlights the seamy side of the ...

The ongoing raids at residences belonging to singer Daler Mehndi and his brother Shamsher Singh once again highlights the seamy side of the emigration industry. Shamsher Singh stands accused of charging as much as Rs 13 lakh to include hopeful emigrants in Daler8217;s troupe so that they could get visas to countries like Canada. The case against the Mehndis comes just weeks after the disappearance of women cricketers from Punjab while on a tour of England. And together they constitute just a small fraction of a flourishing 8216;8216;immigration consultancy services8217;8217; network in and around Punjab. It is, for instance, estimated that there are 300 agencies 8212; legal and illegal 8212; situated in the Chandigarh-Panchkula-Mohali area alone. Therein lies the problem 8212; to clamp down on extortionist, illegitimate operators feeding on the anxiety of those seeking a better life, while enabling a growing band of professionals offering advice and services to those pursuing exit visas. It involves separating the legitimate aspirations of people from the nefarious designs of fly-by-night operators.

For decades now migrant workers have been critical in economic growth 8212; both in their countries of origin and regions of employment. India has benefitted enormously from the legal movement of workers. In 2001, for instance, remittances from people of Indian origin working abroad totalled more than 10 billion. The benefit to developed societies like the US and Canada is estimated to be even more. According to one study, these societies would long have been in recession if there had been no influx of highly skilled technical graduates from India and China.

But then, those who perished in the Malta boat tragedy a few years ago were not skilled workers; those entrapped by fraudsters do not have the specialised skills in demand in Europe and America. Globalisation has not quite opened up avenues for unskilled labour like it has for techies. Votaries of unfettered, mutually beneficial globalisation like Jagdish Bhagwati have thus underlined the need to remove barriers for movement in unskilled labour too. Till that is done, pied pipers will continue to sway desperate folks in pursuit of opportunity. And till then, globalisation will remain an unequal game.