Plugging The Free Flow
The proposed exit tax on students of IITs and IIMs who migrate abroad after their education has its share of supporters and critics-with their sets of reasons
The Pluses
- It will deter and stem the brain drain
- Since the state heavily subsidises higher education, it has a right to impose the tax
- It will generate finances that could be put in a corpus for deserving students
- Only those who leave the country for good will be penalised
The Minuses
- It will impact only poorer students
- Migration will continue as higher
education in India is in a mess. Those who can afford it will pay and exit. - It singles out students from IITs, IIMs
- A better option would be to evolve a rational, market-oriented fee structure. Subsidise students, not institutions.
Arun Sareen,
IIT Kharagpur,
CEO, Vodafone, UK
Indra Nooyi,
IIM Calcutta,
CEO, Pepsico, USA
Vinod Khosla,
IIT Delhi,
Sun Microsystems, US
Rajat Gupta,
IIT Delhi,
Special Advisor, UN
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"Students passing out from premier government institutions getthe best education on payment of nominal fees. In the event of their leaving the countryfor good, imposition of exit tax on them must be considered...in the larger interests ofthe country."
—Report of the parliamentary standing committee on HRD
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