BharatNotes Diaspora
nounUsage in a UPSC answer
India's vast diaspora, numbering over thirty million, has evolved from a mere reservoir of remittances into a strategic instrument of soft power, advancing the nation's commercial, technological and diplomatic interests across continents.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Word Family
diasporic (adj), diasporically (adv), diaspora (n), diasporan (adj/n)
Root
Greek diaspora = scattering; dia- = across + speirein = to sow, scatter
Etymology
From Greek diaspora ("scattering, dispersion"), from diaspeirein ("to scatter"), from dia- ("across") + speirein ("to sow, scatter"); originally used for the dispersion of Jews from Israel; now used broadly for any migrant community maintaining homeland connections.
Memory Hook
Break it as DIA (across) + SPORA (spores) — think of spores 'scattered across' the wind, just as a people are dispersed across the world.
How This Word Works in UPSC Writing
A population dispersed from an ancestral homeland which retains identity and connection with it. India's is among the largest in the world, and the analytically useful move is to distinguish its historical layers, because they behave quite differently. Indentured migration in the nineteenth century to Mauritius, Fiji, Trinidad, Guyana and South Africa produced communities long separated from India with distinct creolised cultures. Post-war labour migration went to Britain, professional migration to North America from the 1960s, and temporary contractual migration to the Gulf, which is the largest current flow and the principal source of remittances, and which is temporary by design since the Gulf states do not offer naturalisation. The policy categories follow that structure: Non-Resident Indians are citizens residing abroad, while Overseas Citizens of India are foreign nationals of Indian origin holding residence and economic rights but no political ones, and the difference between the two is frequently confused.
Don’t Confuse It With
A Non-Resident Indian is an Indian citizen residing abroad, whereas a Person of Indian Origin or Overseas Citizen of India is a foreign national of Indian descent, so only the first retains Indian citizenship and the vote. The OCI card confers residence and economic rights but no political ones and is not dual citizenship, which India does not permit. Remittances are transfers sent home by migrants. Indentured migration was contractual labour movement under colonial rule and produced the oldest layers of the diaspora.
Hindi Meaning
प्रवासी भारतीय (pravāsī bhāratīya); अनिवासी भारतीय (anivāsī bhāratīya) for NRI.
Common Questions
- What is the difference between an NRI and an OCI?
- An NRI is an Indian citizen living abroad and retains the vote, while an OCI is a foreign national of Indian origin with residence and economic rights but no political rights.
- Why is the Gulf diaspora different from others?
- It is contractual and temporary by design, since the Gulf states do not offer naturalisation, so the migrants remain Indian citizens and are the principal source of remittances.
Seen in UPSC Question Papers
- Mains 2023 · GS2 · 10 marks — International Relations
- Mains 2020 · GS2 · 10 marks — International Relations
- Mains 2017 · GS2 · 15 marks — International Relations
Real UPSC previous-year questions whose text uses “Diaspora” — proof this word earns its place on your list.
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