India spends an extraordinary amount of time celebrating its diaspora. Pravasi Bharatiya Divas is staged with precision; political speeches abroad invoke the “global Indian” as a national asset; and prime ministerial visits often double as NRI mass outreach events. Yet behind this warm rhetoric lies an uncomfortable truth: when Overseas Citizens of India (OCIs), Non-Resident Indians (NRIs), or migrant workers attempt to contribute to India’s development, they encounter a system unsure of how to accommodate them.

The gap between rhetoric and reality is stark. Vast goodwill remains unchannelled, professional expertise lies unused, and investments that could strengthen India’s educational, healthcare and research ecosystems stagnate in bureaucratic limbo. This contradiction – deep emotional connection confronted by institutional hesitation – is one of the least acknowledged obstacles to India’s 2047 vision, when India completes 100 years of its independence.

Across continents, the Indian diaspora is eager to engage in substantive ways. Entrepreneurs in Nairobi, Dubai, London, and San Francisco seek opportunities that balance commercial returns with social impact. Doctors in the US, Canada, and the UK aim to teach, train, and contribute to the development of research ecosystems. Academics and scientists seek meaningful collaborations. Millions of skilled and semi-skilled workers in the Gulf seek safe and predictable avenues to save and invest their earnings.

The irony is striking: the diaspora is ready to participate; it is the administrative system that falters.

Consider the operational status of OCIs. Even after the (Person of Indian Origin) PIO-OCI merger, ambiguity continues to dominate practice. Indian law does not explicitly bar OCIs from teaching full-time in universities, leading research projects or serving as doctors in public hospitals.

However, sectoral rules and recruitment norms often impose citizenship requirements for permanent posts or for principal investigators on government-funded research projects. Many rulebooks have not been updated in years, and overlapping ministry notifications contribute to confusion. Faced with uncertainty, institutions default to the safest option – non-appointment. The result is not a legal prohibition, but exclusion born of administrative caution.

India cannot claim to seek world-class talent while keeping its own global talent at the periphery.

Two decades ago, Rajasthan demonstrated what a thoughtful diaspora model could look like. The Rajasthan Foundation identified dilapidated schools, primary health centres (PHCs), community health centres (CHCs) and heritage structures, prepared cost estimates and shared them with Non-Resident Rajasthanis abroad. Diaspora families adopted schools, donated medical equipment and supported conservation of unprotected, neglected monuments. It was an early experiment in transparent, citizen-led development.

But the initiative slowly withered. Bureaucratic inertia stifled early enthusiasm, political attention waned, and the Foundation slipped into symbolic functioning. Rajasthan’s experience mirrors a broader Indian pattern: innovation tends to collapse when institutional continuity is absent. Diaspora engagement cannot depend solely on sentiment; it requires institutions that endure beyond individual leaders.

Other states show what sustained commitment can achieve. Kerala established NORKA and NORKA-Roots, integrating migrant welfare into its administrative machinery. Its Pravasi Chitty recognised a critical need: migrant workers require safe-return savings insulated from exploitation. The Loka Kerala Sabha gave expatriates a structured voice in policymaking.

Gujarat approached diaspora engagement with its characteristic entrepreneurial pragmatism. Village development programmes worked because the state-maintained transparency and trust. Punjab relied on the strong emotional ties of its diaspora, channelling them into infrastructure projects through district-level NRI cells.

These examples illustrate a simple truth: diaspora engagement succeeds when treated as governance, not ceremony.

The biggest barrier is not money; it is India’s administrative mindset. The diaspora understands India’s complexities. What frustrates them is a system that appears designed to discourage participation. Even philanthropic gestures often require navigating a complex web of permissions. Universities hesitate to hire OCIs due to unclear guidelines. Hospitals avoid appointing diaspora doctors. Research institutions fear compliance complications.

This is not governance; it is institutional self-sabotage.

Rajasthan’s MSME Facilitation Act (2019) shows what is possible when political will aligns with administrative clarity. By allowing enterprises to operate without pre-establishment approvals for five years, the state replaced suspicion with trust and dismantled a significant layer of rent-seeking. A similar approach for the NRIs in manufacturing, education, health and research – predictable rules, digitised compliance, and an assumption that diaspora engagement is an asset, not a threat – would unlock immense potential.

As India nears its centenary of independence in 2047, the diaspora will judge the country not by its speeches but by its systems. Nations that value their diaspora – such as Ireland, Israel, South Korea, and the Philippines – have built clear legal frameworks, predictable engagement channels, and institutions that outlast governments. India has not established such structures on a large scale.

The question before India is straightforward: does it want the diaspora’s applause, or its participation?

For decades, we asked what the diaspora could do for India. Today, the more urgent question is what India will do to earn the trust of its diaspora. When India finally chooses clarity over confusion, trust over suspicion and institutions over individual discretion, its global citizens will be ready, willing and proud to help build India of 2047.

The author is a former Finance Secretary, Government of India and Chairman, Institute of Development Studies, Jaipur.

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