PUNJAB'S YOUTH LEAVING COUNTRY

We have seen migration of Indian youth to abroad for study and job; mostly we hear "a Punjabi going to Canada". More than 2.5 lakh students and around 5 lakh job seekers left Punjab and moved abroad (3rd highest in India). Punjab was once called bread basket of India because of its agricultural growth in comparison to other states. Let's see the major problem associated with Punjab for years.

The Rise of Punjab's Agriculture

During 1960s India went through economic crisis due to heavy debt and war with China and Pakistan. It started working towards Green Revolution which is the transformation of farming technology (HYV seeds, irrigation techniques, fertilizers, etc.) to increase crop production. Punjab was selected for testing green revolution because of its moderate climate, adequate water supply, fertile soil, and most successful agricultural history.

Punjab is known for its agriculture

Punjab became the leading exporter of Wheat and Rice in all over India. The Green Revolution's success in Punjab made it the 3rd richest state. Per capita income of Punjab had been more than the average income of India for around 40 years. Green Revolution increased the production of mainly two crops in Punjab: Rice and Wheat. 

The government gave incentives and promoted more production of these crops. The Ensured MSP (Minimum Support Price) helped farmers immensely to an extent that Punjab's farmers are richer than other state farmers even today.

Crisis in Punjab

Bad Impacts of Green Revolution

The Procurement of Green Revolution had two bad impacts on Punjab: Farmers kept focusing on just two major crops, and less or no focus on Industrial development. The production of Rice and Wheat crops were more than the demand. Due to the same crop production, the fertility and nutrient qualities of soil decreased. The excessive use of pesticides, fertilizers, etc. degraded soil quality and lack of agriculture diversification caused decline in the state's overall agriculture growth.

Subsequent Downfall of Punjab's Agriculture

Due to high MSP, farmers were focusing more on rice and wheat. The high production of rice and paddy led to decrease in ground water level and farmers had to use powerful motors. The demand of electricity increased rapidly but the supply was not up to that extent and that's why businesses of Punjab collapsed during the electricity crisis.

Lack of Industrial Growth

In 2004, the agricultural growth collapsed and due to successive decline, some farmers decided to leave farming and move to other sectors. But that was the main problem of Punjab: lack of Manufacturing sector. Less attention was paid towards the industrial growth which means there was nothing as a backup for the economy except agriculture. This was the reason why protest from farm bill was majorly seen from Punjab farmers.

Competition in the Market

If we talk about International market, 90% was covered by Chinese Industries at that time (even now). Punjab's industries were generating very low profit because of their high transportation cost. Textile industries left Punjab and moved to Gujarat or Maharashtra because of availability of ports and raw material. Due to the heavy production of rice Punjab was not able to produce cotton as much and that forced the textile industries to stop operating in Punjab.

Negligence by Political Leaders 

Experts believe that the upliftment or promotion of manufacturing sector was never a priority for the political leadership. Both at state or nation level, this issue was never raised or given the attention. After assassination of Indira Gandhi, the focus over industrial growth became null.

Punjab continuously lost its Agricultural Identity 

The Finances of Punjab Government was in no position to offer subsidies or incentives to attract industries from other states to establish and operate in Punjab. The political system was largely controlled by Jaat Sikhs and they are agriculturalist; less than 10% of the time was spent on non-agricultural issues.

Migration to Abroad

As the Agriculture was not yielding profit and private companies kept closing down, the youth of Punjab had no option but to leave Punjab. Although the migration is being seen all over India but for Punjab the reason was quite obvious as only 2% of the present youth population of Punjab thinks that the state provides good job opportunities. The reasons for moving abroad, mainly Canada, are:

• More Educational and Job opportunities
• Cultural Diversity
• Less Competition
• No caste based Reservation
• Self Development
• Communal Harmony
• Attractive Lifestyle
• Immigration Opportunities.

Canada is known as "Mini Punjab" as there are mostly Punjabi Sikhs migrating from India to Canada. Not only Indian rich or upper middle class, but also young people from lower middle classes are taking scholarships and moving abroad and finding opportunities.

Solution

Punjab presently has come out of this situation but there are some major steps still required to be taken to promote manufacturing sector and reduce agricultural dependency. It should take lessons from Haryana and Tamil Nadu which were previously agriculture dependent states but presently they implemented policies to establish market clusters for manufacturing various products.

Diversification of agriculture (Growing all kinds of vegetables, fruits, flowers, and cotton) is another great way not only to improve the condition of farmers but also to enhance soil fertility and ground water. The government should prioritize employment as much as agriculture to implement policies for better education, and more companies to establish which will result in economic growth of Punjab and the youth would eventually stop assuming that his/her future is in studying/working in abroad.

Conclusion

Data of various States'Youth Leaving Country

Punjab is gifted with fertile land, great minds, and powerful people. With the desperation to move abroad, many young aspirants are scammed by some immigration agencies and IELTS coaching centres. There is nothing wrong in planning to move abroad; even Punjab government supports bright and helpless students with scholarships to move abroad. Like Punjab, every state of India is having its specific issue and consequence is nothing but the suffering of youth.

Punjab government has to step up for the dreams of youth. The focus should be to provide education, resources, employment in all sectors, agriculture growth, and better platforms for students or job seekers to move abroad. The hope is with the new political rule to establish everything needed in the favor of the state.