Sending State Perspectives on the Global Migration of Indian Nurses

Abstract

India has become one of the key sources for the global nursing labour force. While there is significant research on the experiences of Indian-trained nurses in destination countries and their motivations to migrate, relatively less work explores the role of the sending state in this policy field, and rarely are subregional differences considered. In this paper, we focus on the policies and processes that are designed to or otherwise affect nurse migration from India. We draw upon three sources of data: (1) a scoping review of published literature on health worker migration in India, (2) a survey of 1736 health workers in India and (3) interviews with 60 key political and organisational representatives across two regions of India—Kerala and Punjab—as well as from the Delhi Capital Region. Our assessment of the role of the Indian sending state in the international migration of nurses reveals the existence of contradictory policies that are regionally differentiated and distinct. These important subnational jurisdictional policies differ in terms of context, competencies and coherence in managing health worker migration and its resulting impacts on health systems. This research highlights the need to understand jurisdictional differences in any analysis of sending state perspectives on international health worker migration to more fully assess its implication for domestic health systems and changing dynamics in international migration.