The lure of the dollar seems to overpower the allure of the native home. According to World Migration report conducted by UN in 2022, 17.9 million Indians born here are living abroad, making it the world’s largest diaspora. But for the 104 Indians who returned home shackled, their American dream broken, adversity has hit twice. They now have to pay off a loan they took to migrate, for a job that never was. They also have to now live with the memories of their fellow mates dying and left behind as they made the arduous journey with little or no food.

How many people died taking the “dunki” route? Like the epidemic that just passed, we don’t have a count.

Why should we keep count?

Many states have woken up to the reality of precious human resource migrating abroad for better money and prospects. However, Indian workers work abroad sometimes in perilous conditions and exploitative circumstances. Some states like Tamil Nadu and Kerala are actively encouraging their state citizens abroad to register with their state portals to be able to seek help if necessary. Tamil Nadu Government is offering loans to returnees to start businesses so their new found confidence due to experience, will not go wasted. Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are just waking up to the need to have a registry of their own with Telugu speaking students topping the list in student visas. Maharashtra Government through a tie up with countries like Germany is opening skill development centres to train and send semi-skilled labourers abroad. State Governments have realized that increased per capita income through remittances in the state contributes to a growing economy.

However, for those who are victims of fraud by unregistered agents, help still eludes them. They neither have the agency nor the means to complain and seek justice. Treating them like criminals and calling them illegal aliens only dehumanizes and revictimises them. 

What else should Governments do?

Lack of opportunities locally, poor quality of education and social pressure has made some states than others a huge market for greedy agents supported by a well-entrenched local and international network. They manage to entice them promising a bigger dream and swindle them of huge amounts of money to migrate. Merely a crackdown of the network is not enough. State and Central Government should have outreach programmes to raise awareness about the perils of trusting unauthorized agents and travelling through invalid visas. They should increase legal migration by training workers and having more tie ups with other countries requiring skilled and semi-skilled workforce. Having regulated - monitored migration facilitated by the Central Government will ensure their rights are protected even when they are abroad.

The Indian Government should stand up for those trying to enter US illegally to be sent back home with dignity. But there is a greater question here. It is also answerable to its citizens as to why it is not able to provide better opportunities here. With European countries and US increasingly tightening the noose on immigration it has become more important for jobs to be created back home.  

 Intent without investment

At the moment, our budgetary allocation for education and health is just approximately at 3.35 percent of the entire budget. If the dream of a “Viksit bharat” or even a middle income economy is to be achieved, higher investment in skill building and increasing employability is crucial. A robust public healthcare that tells our workforce that it supports us during testing times is essential. Increased investment in research is needed to propel us to come up with products that can be exported to the world. Quality education that is humane and inclusive should be made accessible to poor students also. They will become the engine of the country’s growth by contributing to both government and private institutions in scientific research and economic development. 

After all, it is not enough to dream of a future but it is important to invest in it. 

The writer is a former journalist, language tutor, life-skills counsellor and a lawyer based in Chennai with seven years of experience in reporting issues relating to health, education and politics, ten years of experience helping young adults and children hone language and life skills.