CHANDIGARH:
Punjab villagers
have borrowed Rs 14,342 crore and disposed of assets worth Rs 5,639 crore between 1990 and September 2022 to fulfil their dream of emigrating to another country. In this 32-year-period, 74% of migration occurred in six years - 2016 to September 2022.
These eye-popping figures have come up following a recent study conducted by Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Punjab, which also found that around 56% of th emigrants borrowed money to fulfill their foreign dream.
However, what is startling is the finding that it is not the loss of their assets that pinches the family members left behind, but loneliness and neglect of elderly.
19.38% sold land, house, gold or car to settle abroad: Study
Simply put, out of 100 Punjabis, who have moved abroad out of villages of Punjab from 1990 to 2022, around 74 have landed on foreign shores only after 2016. This shows there was a spurt in
emigration
from Punjab in the last 6-7 years. And what is most important is that this wave of new immigrants is comprised of those who are leaving country by availing student visas," said Prof Shalini Sharma, who, along with Prof Manjeet Kaur and assistant professor Amit Guleria, department of economics and sociology, PAU, conducted the study.The study is based on the primary data covering 44 villages of 22 districts (Malerkotla was not carved out as a separate district when the scientists were conducting the study).
The researchers first conducted a census survey of 9,492 households. A total of 640 migrant and 660 non-migrant households were interviewed. According to the study, Punjab has seen a rise in emigration with approximately 13.34% of rural households having at least one member migrated.
The study observed that around 19.38% migrants had sold their assets like agricultural/residential land, house, gold, car, and tractor. On an average, each immigrant has sold assets worth Rs 1.23 lakh, which was estimated at Rs 5,639 crore for the state.
The majority of low-caste, low-income, landless, and labourers migrant households sold houses and gold ornaments to meet the expenses of migration.
About 56% of households borrowed money to send their wards abroad. The average amount borrowed by migrant households worked out to Rs 3.13 lakh per household. At the state level, about Rs 14,342 crore was borrowed to fund migration.
"This reflects that compared to earlier decades, when foreign remittances were high since most of the immigrants on work permits would send money back to Punjab, outflow of money from rural Punjab is increasing. Moreover, since most of the new immigrants are youngsters, we are also losing our demographic dividend," pointed out Prof Sharma.
The study also revealed that males, landless, minimally educated and Scheduled Castes (SCs) from Doaba emigrated to UAE on work visa, while Canada and Australia were the dream destinations for the young as well as Jat/Sikhs from Majha and Malwa with all farm-size categories who went abroad on study visa.
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