PUNE, 10 December 2007 — Excess forex income is worrying the federal government, even as the rupee rose 15.1 percent against the US dollar in 20006-07. This made the federal government warn that the inflow of foreign funds was more than what the economy can absorb and this appreciation of the rupee, a situation that could endanger the growth and price stability.
The strong economy boom has now led to reverse brain drain, and it was unthinkable when 300 Non Resident Indian (NRI) doctors, engineers, management executives and journalists migrated to Pune in November after staying abroad for more than five to 15 years to work at a fixed salary of five hundred thousand Indian rupees and more in hospitals, industries, information technology companies and newspapers. “After all, this is where our heart belongs,” they told Arab News.
Dr. Saleem Qureshi, a neurosurgeon said that after working for 10 years in California, it was time for him to be close to the family. “The economy is picking up and India seems to be a very happening place.
Ramesh Raikar, senior analyst in a software company in London, said, “The money is better abroad and one cannot compare the lifestyle, but what was missing was the warmth that India provides.”
For Mateen Shaikh, a sub-editor in an English daily newspaper published from Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, who worked there for 10 years and decided to return to Pune, it was again the urge to bond with friends and family that prompted his return.
“After a certain point of time, I started missing India. So, when salaries for journalists started booming like never before in India, it was now or never and I did not think twice at working for a fixed salary for a leading English daily of Mumbai.
Another journalist, Faisal Khan, who worked in Bahrain and Qatar for 15 years and was offered a job immediately by a leading English daily also from Mumbai, said that he felt happy to be back. At the age of 40, I have been hired on a salary that is double of what I received in the Gulf. And the incentives and perks are more attractive. The advantage is that I am with my family and in my home town and would save much much more than what journalists would get at fag end of their services abroad, Khan said with a smile.
