NEW DELHI: Indian nurses, the backbone of the healthcare sector, are leaving the country in droves for higher salaries abroad, mainly to "arrange for dowry" and "repay education loans".

Battling with low salaries and inadequate working conditions, these Florence Nightingales of India are seeking better pay packets abroad that will benefit them and their families.

With a total healthcare workforce of 2.2 million and a population of over one billion, India's nursing density (7.9 per 10,000 population) is well below international standards and is inadequate to meet the current domestic health services needs.

"Low salary is a huge issue in India. Most of the nurses who leave India, specially those from Kerala, say they have to work abroad to earn their dowry," Neelam Deshwal, head of the nursing department at Fortis hospital, Faridabad told.

Deshwal, who has served for 16 years in the Indian Army, said when she conducts exit interviews at her hospital, most nurses tell her they were leaving India due to the higher salaries abroad.

"They tell me that they come from middle and lower middle class families and dowry is present in their communities due to which they have to earn more money," she said.
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