Kalam call to reverse brain drain

Apr 8, 2007, 17:00 GMT

Mysore, April 8 (IANS) President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Sunday called upon the knowledge industry to reverse the brain drain by beckoning all those bright Indians who had gone abroad in search of greener pastures.

'We have witnessed the brain drain taking place for many years. The factors behind the brain drain have been painful to me. With the country making progress in all spheres, it was time all such people are brought back,' Kalam said while addressing budding Infoscians at the Infosys Technologies campus here, about 140 km from Bangalore.

In this context, the president cited the example of the university at Nalanda in Bihar, which trained people from about 90 countries in ancient times.

'Later what happened to our country? Why bright people left the shores? I want this trend to be reversed. Institutions like Infosys, which runs a global training facility here and excelled in the field of IT, should help in reversing the brain drain,' Kalam said.

Infosys non-executive chairman and chief mentor N.R. Narayana Murthy, who returned to India after a stint in the US to set up the IT giant, welcomed the president's suggestion.

'I fully support it. It will be important for us to provide the basic necessities such as good English medium schools for their children, decent housing and better commuting facilities.

'I have met Indians settled in many parts of the globe and they have great affection for their motherland. They want India to succeed and progress. High income in foreign countries will not stop them from coming back to their motherland if we provide them better amenities,' Murthy pointed out.

© 2007 Indo-Asian News Service