Brain drain not having much effect on India: Kalam

President APJ Abdul Kalam sought to dispel fear about the impact of brain drain on developing countries like India and Philippines.

President APJ Abdul Kalam on Monday sought to dispel fear about the impact of brain drain on developing countries like India and Philippines, .

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Kalam said that if a certain percentage of population goes abroad to acquire knowledge, there is nothing to lose.

Replying to a question at an interactive session with students of the Philippines Science High School in Manila, he said a sizeable percentage of the total 85 million population of Philippines are working abroad while in India, 10 million out of nearly one billion people are out.

"If a certain percentage of people go abroad to acquire knowledge, our countries do not stand to lose much," he said.

However, if developing countries like India and Philippines develop their own Research and Development facilities, those who have gone abroad will return as well as foreign scientists will be attracted to these facilities, the President stressed.