In a move aimed at addressing the country?s acute skill shortage, the Prime Minister?s Office (PMO) has decided to unveil an action plan to groom second-generation overseas Indians for a reverse brain drain. A panel of global Indian leaders including PepsiCo chief Indra Nooyi and Arcelor-Mittal chairman LN Mittal will draw up a blueprint in his regard.
The decision was taken January 8 when a delegation of industry and academic heads, including noted economist Amartya Sen and the first India-born McKinsey chief Rajat Gupta met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to discuss ways to attract bright talent back to the country.
As per PM?s direction, Sen, Gupta and other members of the Global Advisory Council for Overseas Indians would meet by the end of the year to make suitable recommendations. A source privy to the discussions told FE that the Prime Minister assured the delegation that the ideas would be tried out and that members of the Cabinet would also attend the discussions.
The move comes less than a week after Singh came out in strong support for homecoming of Indian-born scientists practising abroad at the 94th Indian Science Congress in Chennai. ?The global Indian diaspora is a vast pool of knowledge that we must tap, especially in the sciences,? Singh had said.
A member of the global council told FE: ?The fear that many have is that since India is growing at almost 8% and is slated to be reckoned among the biggest economies globally in the next few years; but do we have enough able professionals to manage the growth??
He added that currently, a quarter of all the doctors in the US were of Indian origin. ?Can we bring even a small percentage of Indians back to the country?? he queried. The 18-member council of overseas Indians would meet again to devise a strategy to encourage and facilitate the process.
Tying up with foreign universities to allow movement of India-born students to the country through an exchange programme and encouraging Indian companies with overseas operations to allow more cross-border movement of professionals are among possible steps which could be considered by the government to resolve the talent shortage in the country.
? We are going to meet the PM again this year and put the plan to execution,? a member said. He said the PM was thrilled to hear the panel members’ suggestions. ?He was very happy to note that many of the members were equally passionate about the subject,? he said.
The bran child of Singh, the global advisory council was set up in 2009 to involve successful India-born leaders in the process of decision-making of the country. According to its mandate, it meets once every year. The 18-member strong council makes recommendations to the PM on a wide range of issues including skill development and education.
Other prominent members include Vikram Pandi, CEO of Citibank, Padma Bhushan awardee Swadesh Chatterjee and Columbia University professor Jagdish Bhagwati.
