Question : HARASSMENT OF INDIANS

(a) whether India`s hi-tech manpower is in great demand in America and other European countries and the Indians are going abroad for better service career prospects;

(b) if so, the number of such Indians who have migrated abroad in each of the last three years, category-wise and country-wise;

(c) whether the complaints have been received by the Indian Government on harassment meted out to such Indians in the foreign countries;

(d) if so, the action taken by the Government to protect the interests of our Indian people abroad; and

(e) the measures taken by the Government to retai the hi-tech brain manpower within the country itself?

MINISTER OF STATE FOR LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT (SHRI MUNI LALL)

(a) & (b): While some highly skilled professionals do emigrate to other countries for employment, no record of such persons is kept as in their case emigration clearance is not required.

(c) & (d): There was the case of Indian computer professionals who were arrested in Texas in January 2000 by the Immigration and Naturalisation Service of USA, for alleged violation of their employment terms under the H1-B visa, by working for a company other than the one listed on their labour certificates. They were released the next day after the company that hired them viz. M/s Frontier Consulting Inc. executed bonds for their release. On that occasion, the Ambassador of India in Washington lodged a strong protest with the State Department as well as with the Immigration and Naturalisation Service over the arrest of the Indian nationals. The Assistant Secretary of the State Department expressed deep regret over this incident on behalf of the US Government. All charges against the Indian professionals were subsequently dropped.

(e): With higher levels of direct foreign investment as also increasing investment by investors in India, particularly in the areas of information and technology, the emoluments for highly skilled professionals are expected to increase significantly. The transnational companies are already realising that it is worthwhile to set up research as well as research development centres in India rather than to deploy Indian manpower in other countries to set up such facilities there. With this, brain drain from the country is expected to reverse. There are already signs to this effect.