The outflow of Indian students to foreign countries have increased manifold in recent years, the External Affairs Ministry informed this to Rajya Sabha in reply to questions by member Kartikeya Sharma. In a written reply, the Minister of State for External Affairs, V Muraleedharan said, the number of students have significantly gone up from 5,18,015 in 2018 to 7,50,365 in 2022. There had been a lull, however, during the Covid period of 2020 and 2021. The minister said, “The Government of India has taken up with the concerned Governments the easing issuance of visas for all categories of Indian travellers, including students.”Various scholarship schemes, especially for the weaker sections have also added to the surge,” the minister added.
