It is not reverse brain drain but the love and warmth of homeland Gujarat that is inspiring Gujaratis living in other states and outside the country for generations to come back and settle here.
It is not reverse brain drain but the love and warmth of homeland Gujarat that is inspiring Gujaratis living in other states and outside the country for generations to come back and settle here. This feeling was echoed by Non-Resident Gujaratis (NRGs), who have come to participate in the Swarnim Gujarat celebrations. After jainad at the Gujarat University convention hall during ‘Swarnim Gujarat - Vaishvik Gujarat’, a summit of NRGs, many Gujaratis expressed their willingness to return.
Paresh Chauhan, a businessman living in Dhanbad, Jharkhand, for last three generations, said, “My forefathers had given their blood and sweat in laying railway tracks across the country. But now we want to return to Gujarat. We had gone out to earn livelihood as there were not enough opportunities at that time in the state. Now we see tremendous opportunities for business and a supportive government. If the homeland is flourishing with opportunities, who would not like to come back. I have started a small factory in Vadodara.”
Echoing his views, Chandrakant Raipat, a builder and hotelier from Ranchi, said, “We are settled in Jharkhand for two generations and developed our business there. But we want to come to Gujarat and expand our business here. Our next generation is looking forward to it. Gujarat government’s approach is very professional and political stability rules here.”
Dipesh Yagnik, 50, is working as an employee of Steel Authority of India in Jharkhand, but he had sent his daughter to Gujarat for graduation. Yagnik said, “My children don’t want to live there anymore. I will come back to my homeland to spend my retirement here.”
Gujarat is a hub of dyes and chemical business which is attracting a Gujarati family based in UP. “At present we are buying chemicals from Gujarat. But my next generation is thinking of setting up a plant in Gujarat,” said Sharad Jani, whose family is based in Kanpur for several decades.
“There are ample opportunities if we begin our business in Gujarat,” he said. Mohit Thakkar, who originally hailed from Porbandar, has recently migrated from Mumbai.
“My family relocated to Ahmedabad a year back and started a food processing business,” said Thakkar. Now, in Ahmedabad, I am able to spend more time with my family, he added.
Bipin Sangankar, president of Indo-American World Business Council in New York, who was born in Ahmedabad, has chalked out plans to return to the motherland. “When I went to New York, my father-in-law had said that I should stay there for some years to earn money and then come back. I feel, that time (of coming back to Gujarat) is nearing,”
Bhikhu Patel, an NRI from Bardoli taluka in Surat, who is settled in Atlanta, US, for 25 years, also wants to come back if a suitable opportunity comes along. He was happy that Gujarat had undergone a massive change in the last 20-25 years, with all-round development taking place.
(Himansh Dhomse, Summit Khanna and Niyati Rana have contributed to the report)
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