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From: ravi@crystal.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.nlang.india
Subject: Re: Brain Drain
Message-ID: <63@crystal.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 29-Mar-86 16:15:52 EST
Article-I.D.: crystal.63
Posted: Sat Mar 29 16:15:52 1986
Date-Received: Tue, 1-Apr-86 07:22:02 EST
References: <614@philabs.UUCP> <633@epistemi.UUCP> <47@uscvax.UUCP> <7058@duke.UUCP>
Organization: U of Wisconsin CS Dept
Lines: 37
Keywords: GRE.
Summary: Can't ban GRE

In article <7058@duke.UUCP>, apte@duke.UUCP (Jitendra Apte) writes:
>
> 	Several years ago every other medical student found it fit to leg it
> to the US after completing MBBS. This came to an end as soon as the concerned
> organization stopped conducting the ECFMG ( I think that's the name ) exam in
> India . Ofcourse the tide of Indian Doctors moving to the US was also checked
> by the fact that very few were granted visas.
> 	This makes me believe that a practical way to check the migration
> of IIT graduates to this country is to ban the administration of GRE in
> India .
> 	Comments ?

The American Medical Association appears to be the main force both behind
the restrictions on where the ECFMG is administered, as well as the fact
that visas are hard to come by if you are a medico.  (While the justification
of course, is that foreign medical graduates are not quite up to par with
American medical graduates, it seems obvious that there is an ulterior economic
motive.)  The AMA appears to be a lobby powerful enough to get whatever it
wants:  In his book, Jimmy Carter calls the AMA just about the most powerful
lobby he had to deal with.  It has certainly done better than any other
labour union in the country in obtaining quotas on foreign imports.

I have a feeling that similar results will be hard to acheive in the case
of engineers and scientists unless there is a force comparable to the AMA
that lobbies against letting them come into this country.

Certainly, the Indian government could take the initiative in banning the
administration of the GRE in India.  This would however require a system
similar to the "exit visa" system prevalent in some countries to ensure
that students can come here when appropriate.  I really do not think that
would be a desirable system for us to adopt in India.  Besides, banning the
GRE effectively may require the co-operation of the neigbouring countries at
the very least.

I am also not so sure that the Indian government would have succeeded very
well on its own in preventing medicos from coming here.  I wonder if others
on the net feel the same way.