Any ny Indian worker toiling in the deserts of any sub-Saharan country probably has as much love and respect for India as any Indian IT professional in the Silicon Valley. But then, the negatively biased behaviour of the Indian government towards this section of workers is clearly nepotistic. For example, the PIO (Person of Indian Origin) card has been reported to be easily accessible to any NRI migrant from the US, but quite impossible to attain for an Indian stationed in any African country.
RBI statistics have shown that on an average, 40% of India’s forex reserves come from NRIs. Parliamentary Standing Committee’s 2006 report on external affairs revealed that Rs. 550 billion (half of the total remittances) comes from Indian workers stationed in UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait among others, earned and repatriated mainly by petty workers.
The Reserve Bank of India might be surprised, but the fact is that beyond investment and remittances, an Indian with any background is still, uhh, an Indian... Discrimination then on the basis of their resident country and their pocket depth becomes unethical and even illogical. Just a few decades back, such blatant hypocrisy would have been labelled apartheid, would have evoked global consternation and major media ridicule. And now? Nobody even blinks! That’s India!