Kejriwal says students should ‘work for the country’. What’s important to the young is what works in the country

Arvind Kejriwal advised students from Delhi’s government schools to “work for the country” and not study abroad. Presumably, the Delhi CM would advise all young Indians to do the same. He would be wrong, for multiple reasons. People, young or old, students or professionals or the wealthy, leave their country usually to take advantage of opportunities either not available or not sufficiently available in their own country. Migrating or studying abroad is not costless – that many undertake this journey obviously means in their perception the cost-benefit analysis works out. So, politicians, if they are worried about good students leaving India, should look to alter this cost-benefit analysis.

That involves many things, including improving the supply of quality education and a more enabling economic environment. That this can be done has been proved in part by Kejriwal’s government itself, which substantially improved the quality of education in Delhi’s government schools. And that an altered cost-benefit equation reduces the flow of students going out is evident from one of the best education institutes in the country – as a TOI story on Sunday showed, the number of IIT Bombay computer science graduates who leave for the US has dropped sharply, because many are now becoming tech entrepreneurs in India’s vibrant startup ecosystem.

Separately, and Kejriwal must know this already, Indians abroad, whether students or professionals or entrepreneurs, are an asset for India. The diaspora improves the optics for India, it speaks for India, and it’s a source of investment and ideas. If any of those Delhi government school students Kejriwal spoke to pursue further education abroad, they will be part of that beneficial collective. “Work for the country,” seems like a noble thought, a good advice, but it lacks any substantive meaning for young people making life decisions. What’s important for them is what works in the country.

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