WORKING PAPER NO: 380 The Punjabi Diaspora in the UK: An Overview of Characteristics and Contributions to India Rupa Chanda Professor Economics & Social Sciences Indian Institute of Management Bangalore Bannerghatta Road, Bangalore – 5600 76 Ph: 080-26993273
[email protected] Sriparna Ghosh Ex-Research Assistant Indian Institute of Management Bangalore Bannerghatta Road, Bangalore – 5600 76
[email protected] Year of Publication - October 2012 This paper is part of a research project titled “Developing a knowledge base for policymaking on India-EU migration”, financed by the European Commission (EC) and carried out by Prof. Rupa Chanda at the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB), researchers at the European University Institute (EUI), the Indian Council of Overseas Employment (ICOE), and Maastricht University (Faculty of Law). The Punjabi Diaspora in the UK: An Overview of Characteristics and Contributions to India Abstract The recognition of diaspora contributions towards their home country through remittances, investments and networks has facilitated a shift in attitude and thinking regarding migration, from brain drain to “brain bank”, “brain gain”, “brain trust” and “brain circulation”. This shift in thinking is also evident in India in recognition of the manifold contributions being made by the Indian diaspora to the home country. This paper examines the historical and socio-economic characteristics of one important Indian diaspora community, the Punjabis in the UK and discusses the latter’s contributions to India and to its home state of Punjab. The evidence reveals that the NRI Punjabi diaspora in the UK is quite old, dating back to the colonial period. It is a heterogeneous community, divided by castes and sub-castes which influence the institutions through which its subgroups engage with the homeland.