NRGs forsake Gulf to work back home

Ahmedabad: Three years back, Murli Shah, who was working as a professor in a city-based college, migrated to UAE for better job opportunities and a bigger salary. But a few months back, Murli's salary stopped, as his company went on a cost-cutting spree. He is now moving back to Ahmedabad and looking for jobs. Murli is not alone.

Plunging oil prices have injured the economies of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. With the exception of Dubai, Gulf countries are almost fully dependent on income from petroleum and petro-products. The free fall in crude prices have led to job cuts and resulted in companies not granting increments.

Ronak Mehta, who was working in Kuwait with an oil firm for seven years is among those coming back. "We haven't received salaries for last four months. Without regular salary, it is difficult to survive as things are very expensive there, in comparison to home," said Mehta.

Nandan Pandya, who is sending his family back home, said, "I had to send my elder daughter home for class 11 and 12, because school fees, rent and travel expenses have gone up."

With Gulf countries taking austerity measures, and also planning to impose tax on the incomes of expatriates, many Indians in those nations are sending their families back to India. Many of them are also looking for jobs in their home cities. Nine months ago, GCC countries imposed income tax on expatriates while the UAE is in the process of introducing value-added tax (VAT) and tax on remittances.

According to rough estimates, around 2 lakh Gujaratis are living in Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and UAE. In comparison to people belonging to Tamil Nadu and Kerala, however, there are fewer Gujaratis living in Gulf countries.

While people like Murli and Ronak have their own homes and extended families here, one of the biggest concerns they face is getting school admissions for their kids.

"For the first time in 12 years, we have received around 25 applications in three months from people who are living in Gulf countries. Many of them are migrating back to Ahmedabad while several of them are sending their wives and kids back. Most of these parents are working in oil and gas industry," said Manan Choksi, director, Udgam School.

Choksi added, "Many of these parents have asked us to give some concession in fees or allow them to pay in instalments. And since the schools in Gulf countries follow CBSE curriculum, the parents are looking for admissions in such schools."