Amritsar: Personal reasons triggered the brain drain and migration in Punjab ages ago, emptying whole villages altogether. The same are now reversing this trend much to the relief of the Punjabis, who love their homeland, but are forced to go abroad to earn a decent living. The Tangra Business Model has paved the way for a majority of those living abroad to return to their roots by offering the talented Punjabi youth the work opportunities that they crave.
Mandeep Kaur Tangra’s unique initiative is making Punjabi youth reconsider their migratory dreams. It is also attracting youth from other states including Himachal Pradesh, and metros such as Gurgaon, and Bangalore. Her IT Services and Digital Marketing company is the first in the state to be situated in a village. “My ex-husband used to live abroad. So, I decided to do something to bring him back home,” she said. Mandeep said that Punjabis working elsewhere started returning home when they discovered that they could get a lucrative pay package right within their hometown.
A majority of Mandeep’s employees are also her upcoming business partners, who work with the parent company, besides also establishing its replica units in their own districts. Raazaan Singh Chauhan, one of Mandeep’s team members went to Canada to study Business Marketing but returned home to work. “My aim is to understand this model and replicate it in my own as well as other districts,” he says.
According to Mandeep Kaur, Tim Hortons invited her to work for them when they opened in Punjab. “If a Tim Hortons can identify our work in a village and invite us, why should we go abroad to serve them?” she asks. The ‘Tangra Business Model’ had piqued Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s attention too as he asked to hear about it all over again during an event. “It was a proud moment for me,” she said.
Shubhneet Kaur, of village Chhajjalwaddi, whose parents wanted her to go abroad, particularly Canada, but who has found a fulfilling career in her Punjab itself, vouches for Mandeep’s initiative. The venture helped change the destiny of Gurpreet Kaur from village Tangra. “Mandeep Ma’am helped me a lot in learning things. I have a job, thanks to her and I like it a lot. Apart from this, I am completing my education too,” she says.
Another case in point is that of Kanwarpal Singh, who has been working with Mandeep Kaur Tangra for the past seven years as an Assistant General Manager. Like most other Punjabi youth, he too nurtured dreams of going abroad. But, he changed his mind when he joined this company.