By IANS,
Thiruvananthapuram : Goa received nearly Rs.800 crore (Rs.8 billion) in remittances last year from 56,000 emigrants settled abroad, a official study on Goan diaspora has revealed.
Goa Migration Study is a joint project by the state government’s office of the commissioner for non-resident Indian affairs, the union ministry of overseas Indian affairs and the Centre for Development Studies (CDS) here.
“Remittances are equivalent to 6.3 percent of the state’s domestic product or 33 percent of the revenue receipts,” S. Irudaya Rajan, professor with the research unit on international migration at CDS, said.
The study was done among 6,000 sample households in 60 localities selected at random from both rural and urban areas of 11 talukas of the two districts of Goa.
The detailed analysis reveals that 12 percent households in Goa had an emigrant currently living abroad.
“At least 82 percent of the households used the remittances for daily subsistence. Nearly a third of the households used it for educational purposes. More than a quarter of the households deposited it in banks. One-fifth of remittances were used for building houses and purchasing land,” said Rajan.
The study also found out that the Goan diaspora was settled in 43 countries and 56 percent are in the Middle East. Another 13 percent are in Europe, 11 percent in South and South East Asia, and 10 percent are in North America. Nearly seven percent of state’s emigrants are working aboard ships.