Remitted with love: Punjab, Kerala & migrant money

SON AND SUCCESS: Gurmukh Singh says his life changed after his son went to America.

          

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Successful abroad, successful back home too

Indians working abroad sent over Rs 1.2 lakh crore rupees back home in 2007.

• Sons, husbands fund the good life back home

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• Successful abroad, successful back home too
• Sons, husbands fund the good life back home

Keywords: NRIs, Remittance Money

The money sent by millions of Keralaites is not helping Kerala much though. “Kerala today ranks first in consumption, which is primarily remittance-driven. But the paradox is that remittance money has failed to increase investment levels in agriculture and industry in Kerala,” says Finance Minister Thomas Issac.

Money for Punjab

Thousands of kilometres away, in Gurdaspur village of Punjab, remittance money has helped farmer Gurmukh Singh too. He has just bought a tractor and is confident that good seeds and fertilizers will earn him a good harvest though unseasonal rains damaged his crops. His dairy business is flourishing and he over Rs 25,000 from it every month.

Gurmukh says he became prosperous after his son Rachchpal immigrated to California four years ago. “I owned just a small piece of land and after Rachchpal went to the US I was able to buy 25 acres. I also bought a tractor, a big car and a house,” says Gurmukh.

But where Punjab differs from Kerala is the way the money is being spent. Rachchpal went from his village to Bakersfield in the US. Starting as a truck driver, today he runs his own transport business and earns over Rs 2 lakh a month. He has bought luxuries for his family and also changed the way his father does business.

The Doaba region accounts for the most number of migrants from the state. With low water levels, agriculture was a challenge in this area. So many left for foreign shores. Today, NRI money—mostly from Canada and the US—is ploughing Punjab's economy forward. Over the last four decades, remittance money reinvested in agriculture has hiked farm incomes and changed the face of rural Punjab.

“Farming in Punjab isn't profitable. It's difficult to buy modern agriculture equipment from farming income but NRI money is helping in development,” says Agriculture Minister Sucha Singh Langha.

Rural Punjab is teeming with symbols of migrant wealth and aspiration. From schools to gurudwaras, Punjab's heartland is dotted with structures built with remittance money.

Over the last decade, NRI wealth has been mobilised through village welfare associations, like the one in Kharoudi, a village in Hoshiarpur district. Nine out of ten houses here have at least one person working abroad. A chunk of the money immigrants from the village sent back home goes to the village life improvement board.

Kharoudi is a model village: it has a community centre worth Rs 20 lakh, a theatre worth Rs 80,000 rupees and a development project worth Rs 50 lakh. There are only 600 people left in Kharoudi, but the village is prosperous thanks to the people who left home.