The famous quote of Jose Rizal “Youth is the hope of our future” explains the importance of youth in the development of a country. As Young people are the backbone of the country and they are the ones who hold the keys to the door that leads their country on the road of prosperity.  However, it is an unfortunate situation that a young lot of Pakistan don’t play its role in the development of country what it should have played.  It is an ill-fated and heart-rending state that when we ask from a university student about his/ her future he or she would probably say that he wants to go abroad. According to a survey of Gallup-Pakistan, more than two-third of Pakistan’s adult population wants to go abroad for work and half of it has no desire to return.” which is a perturbing fact.

This situation “in which large numbers of educated and very skilled people leave their own country to live and work in another one where pay and conditions are better is called brain drain”.  Pakistan being a third world country along with many other problems is also facing this problem. As most of the talented students and professionals of Pakistan which include doctors, engineers, and scientist, go abroad and give their services there which cause the loss of potential people. This migration of the competent people causes a lot of damage not only to the Pakistani economy but also distort the personalities of the migrants and produce identity crisis. If this process is continued we may end up as a society with no knowledge and how could this society progress without any knowledge?

  There are many push and pull factors behind this phenomenon. The most important push factor is the poor economy of the country due to which young students prefer to go abroad. The reason for this downfall of the economy is not that Pakistan doesn’t have resources or talent but corruption and lack of willingness to use these resources cause such problematic situation. This is the dilemma of our country that incompetent politicians, elites and so-called leaders of the country don’t pay any attention to solve the problems of the country but they are concerned with making their own properties and profit.  The elite class is raping the country so well and good. On the condition of Pakistan, they possessed the typical hypocrite attitude which reflects their lack of compassion and a colossal failure of common sense. They are not providing enough sources to the young people to contribute their energies in a positive way. They don’t create the new employment and opportunities for the youth. Due to this non-utilization of the human resources, young people prefer to migrate to abroad for better future. As Rachel Jackson said “Our youth are not failing the system; the system is failing our youth. Ironically, the very youth who are being treated the worst are the young people who are going to lead us out of this nightmare.” 

Additionally, the colonial mentality of people is also one of the basic reasons that people prefer other countries over their homeland. Although Pakistan is an independent and free country now yet it was the part of the subcontinent that remained colonized for approximately hundred years.  The aftermaths of the colonization were severe as it affected the social, cultural and political life of the people. It changed the perspectives of people and inculcated colonizer values and culture in them. These things produced a deep-rooted sense of inferiority in the mind of colonized people. This inferiority complex is also the reason due to which people migrate abroad. They think that the foreign countries are much superior to Pakistan and they provide better opportunities. “Foreign is better” is a notion that is most prevalent in third world countries like Pakistan due to which young people attracted towards abroad.

 In a nutshell, the issue of brain drain is like cancer that is slowly destroying the economy of our country. To minimize this effect government should play its role and provide the opportunities and employment to the young and talented people so that they can utilize their skill and prefer to live and work for the betterment of their homeland Pakistan.  Brain drain should be converted into brain gain that the young and talented people come back to their country and serve it wholeheartedly.

By: Aniza Batool