By Asia Samachar | Panjab |
Panjabis have borrowed or sold assets like land and gold worth close to Rs20 crore in the quest to search for a better life in far flung places places around the world . That works out to be US$2.4 billion or RM11.2 billion or S$3.2 billion.
An in-depth study conducted by Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) on the emigration patterns in Panjab has revealed that Canada continues to remain the most preferred destination followed by Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Australia.
The Majha region of Panjab, which includes the border districts of Gurdaspur and Tarn Taran, witnessed the highest (20.51%) volume of migration followed by Malwa (14.28%) and Doaba (11.27%), reported The Indian Express, quoting statistics from the Ludhiana-based university.
The study, the first of its kind covering 44 villages from 22 districts, was conducted from 2021 to 2023, involving 9,492 households covering the migration period from 1990 to 2022. It noticed a stark increase since 2016, making up 74% of the total emigration captured in the study.
It found that 13.34% rural households had at least one family member abroad. Females (65%) outnumbered males (35%) in obtaining study visas as they were able to secure the required IELTS bands.
Canada (41.88%) was the most preferred destination for Panjabis followed by Dubai (16.25%), Australia (9.63%), Italy (5.54%), UK (3.49%), US (3.25%) and others (19.98%), the study found.
The research, “A Study on Overseas Migration from Rural Punjab: Trends, Causes, and Consequences,” was led by Professor Shalini Sharma, Professor Manjeet Kaur, and Assistant Professor Amit Guleria from PAU’s Department of Economics and Sociology.
Looking at the various assets sold by families to send their children abroad, Prof Manjeet estimated the total to be Rs 5636 crore for the entire state.
“The majority of low-caste, low-income, landless, and laborers migrant households sold houses and gold ornaments to meet the expenses of migration. About 56% of households borrowed money for sending their wards abroad.
“The average amount borrowed by migrant households worked out to Rs 3.13 lakh per household. Of this, non-institutional borrowing constituted 38.8% and institutional money formed 61.2%. At the state level, about Rs 14,342 crore were borrowed for the purpose of migration,” she was quoted in the report.
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Punjab seniors put up land for sale, shift abroad permanently (Asia Samachar, 7 June 2023)
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