The term brain drain was coined by the spokesmen of the Royal Society of London to describe the outflow of scientists and technologists to the United States and Canada in the early 1950s. Since then the term has become synonymous with human capital or the migration of highly educated individuals from the developing, mostly third world countries, to the developed ones.
Over the past few decades, more since Pakistan has been lurched full throttle into economic and political chaos, the phenomenon has become the bane of the society. The number of repining Pakistanis who wish to settle abroad is rising every year and the ones who are actually capable of breaking loose are coincidentally the educated ones, contributing alarmingly to the growing crisis of the Pakistani brain drain. To leave the country and settle abroad has become the zeitgeist of current day Pakistan.
Unfortunately either the government does not realize the severity of the problem or prefers to brush it under the proverbial rug like so many other issues. The migration of the Pakistani professionals to foreign countries, namely, US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand has increased considerably with young educated and skilled Pakistani such as doctors, IT Experts, scientists and other professional either already gone or planning to leave. The fact that workers from all skill levels are losing or have completely lost faith in the economic future of the country was revealed by the Gallup survey that indicated that even the semi-skilled and unskilled workers want to migrate outside in search of better prospects. 62 percent of the adults who were surveyed expressed the desire to migrate abroad while 38 percent said that they would prefer to settle outside permanently.
It is often thought that the transmittance of funds by the ones who leave the country as a result of brain drain is a good enough substitute for these individuals actually staying in the country and working. But that idea is valid only to a minimal extent as there can be no substitute for services these professionals could be rendering the country by staying within the borders and adding to a far rapid economic, scientific and technological development of the country. Again, that can only happen if the proper infrastructure is provided to them whereby the country could earn manifold the money it receives from transmittance from the migrated workers.
According to Dr. Fitzhugh Mullan of George Washington University every doctor who leaves a poor nation leaves a hole that cannot be filled. He says,
‘That creates enormous problems for the source country and the educational and health leaders in the country who are attempting to provide healers’.
Research shows that at 20 countries export more than 10 percent of their physician work force to richer nations with nearly no reciprocation as the US exports less than one-tenth of 1 percent of its doctors. Economic factor is primarily responsible for this mass migration of the scientific community from poorer, host countries like Pakistan. In Pakistan the value placed for a scientist with an advanced level degree is Grade 17 which comes with a salary that is totally insufficient to meet the basic requirements of a family. So it is no surprise that the advanced countries are exploiting the situation by offering these individuals far more handsome incentives.
Asif J. Mir writes in ‘Pakistani Think Tank’,
‘We cannot achieve long-term economic growth by exporting our human resource. In the new world order, people with knowledge drive economic growth. We talk a lot of poverty alleviation in Pakistan. But who is going to alleviate the poverty—the uncreative bureaucracy that created poverty? Hypothetically, the most talented should lead the people, create wealth and eradicate poverty and corruption’.
Phillip Bonosky, contributing editor of Political Affairs, writes in his book ‘Afghanistan-Washington’s Secret War’,
‘Pakistan seems to have nothing but problems. Endemic poverty which was Great Britain’s imperial gift to the colonial world—a poverty on which the sun never sets—skilled (badly needed in Pakistan itself) abroad in search for jobs. Hardly any country has suffered more from the ‘brain drain’ than has Pakistan. Nearly 3,000 (annually) graduates of Pakistan’s medical colleges are jobless; most go abroad. The educated see their future not in their home country but in any country but their own’.
According to a report in the ‘The Observer’, London,
‘Pakistan is facing a massive brain drain as record numbers of people desperate to leave their politically unstable, economically chaotic country swamp foreign embassies with visa applications…The biggest number of applications for British visas are from Pakistan. Doctors, lawyers and IT professional and leading the exodus, but laborers and farmhands are joining the queues of malnourished people who gather daily outside the US embassy in Islamabad’.
The greatest effect of brain drain on any country is what is seen in Pakistan today; rampant corruption, poor administrations, lack of motivation and a fast diminishing nationalism. Unless there is nationalism there can be no collective progress and poverty and crime will continue to increase under the umbrella of plethoric apathy. Whatever the solution it needs to come fast and it needs to be come now otherwise ‘when the educated are away, the uneducated will play’ as they are playing at the moment.
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The problem of brain drain is simply exaggerated. It has always happened in history and will continue to do so for ever because there would always be people looking for greener pastures. It happened when a large number of Europeans moved to America. It happened when a large number of Russians moved out. Now these countries are facing reverse migration. So things change and they would change for Pakistan as well.
While looking at migration one should not loose sight of one of the main reasons. Pakistan’s population growth rate is around 2%, which means the population increases by more than 3 million, around the same number as in the USA. But USA’s population is almost double that of Pakistan. So many people are jobless in Pakistan and they obviously want to move abroad. But the population growth rate is going down and would go down further and finally reach the stable level, whatever it is. The fertility rate, which is currently 4 children per woman, would ultimately go down below 2.1, which is the replacement level. I wonder if there would be much emigration at that level. All the major countries where people love to migrate have population growth rates of 1% or less. Sooner or later Pakistan’s population growth rate would be less than 1%.
Also when a few professionals leave the country they improve the job chances for those left behind, hence there is lesser incentive for those left behind to move abroad.
Also the proportion of young people in Pakistan is very high and they are the people looking for entry level jobs. Thus there is a lot more competition at that level for jobs with far fewer jobs, hence the starting salaries are not good. So many young professional like to move abroad. But as they gain experience their incomes rise were quickly because there is lesser competition for experienced people and they make a lot of money. So the incentive to move abroad decreases with more experience. And hence many experienced people also like to return.
It is not true that the educated people can only make as much as a grade-17 officer. It all depends on their skills and qualifications. Obviously if they just get a BA and have no other marketable skills they are going to get a grade-17 pay or even less. So many people don’t learn the skills valued by the market and end up doing mean chores. That is bad decision making on their part. Because many people see their incomes rising 5-10 times within 5-10 years of starting their jobs and that is not exceptional.
We dont have any thing to export , so we export humans…,, we send money back for the families..to enjoy better life style…and we think we are rich:), I have only realized this after coming abroad…we keep increasing our population without planning…and we keep exporting people..if we dont have enough to feed ourselves.. then we should stop…., people sell their organs to get rid of poverty…oh my GOD please help
Its hard to stop people from migrating. Sometimes people come back attracted by social work. We have instances in India of the Indian diaspora returning to rebuild villages. We also have people coming back to work in the still booming IT sector in Bangalore. Mostly, as we all know, its about money and opportunity. But doctors? There are dedicated docs who work for the poor. Sometimes they combine private practice with social work. But not so many. Even within India doctors go from the public health system to lucrative jobs in private hospitals. Health tourism is a sector thats being promoted.
Tehmeena Doltana, who can’t muster two coherent sentences, appointed as minister for science and technology one can imagine the value given to brain in Pakistan. Why could they not have picked one of the renowned scientists as the S&T minister? Many would accept the post for their country even if it means leaving job abroad and taking a pay cut only if someone would let them.
Atif sahab….one always have 1001 “bahanais” …to justify thier running !
just giving one or two examples….and thinkingb that ..you have proven your point is just kidding !
Dr Bokhari served Pakistan for 25 years….and made Electrical Engineering of UET to that heights ..and nobody knows..how many generations will be able top pay back the debt !
he served 25 years…unlike those who run from Pakisatn just after 5years of MBBS..and then start dancing thier fingers on keyboards..as “Cyber Patriots” !
Dr. Abbas Zaidi, Dr. Shahid Bukhari and many many more who sincerely tried to settle in Pakistan just couldnt. Recently Dr .Riaz from Univ. of Karachi was treated as a convicted criminal of the heinest of crimes that he was beaten up so badly inside the university.
A woman doctor gets raped in our interior regions. Some doctors get killed in northern areas for giving polio vaccination.
Brain Drain is also accompanied by Brain Damage here.
The HEC initiative led by Dr Atta-ur-Rehman will probably improve the situation, as even if half the higher education scholars sponsered abroad return, they will create a positive impact on the human resource situation. The new government has to ensure that these people are adjusted well here.
Living among your own people is a most satisfying experience.
Brain drain or simply migration. As you said rightly, this nation offers to the best of its lot, a 17th grade salary, urging them to recover a decent living through corruption only.
What else one should do ? I think individuals are not to be blamed. Migration has always been a permanent feature in the human history and why should Pakistanis be an exception. And by the way settling down in the west not easy either.