52 SOCIAL SCIENTIST Rs 129.67 in 1970-71. SeeJ^SS Report, No 262, 25th Round, Table 12; according to this, the annual earnings is Rs 1556. 7 A person entering a country with a visit NOC, when he gets a job and wants to change the NOC, has to go out of the country and then reenter it. 8 It is necessary to point out that all the different items of costs have not been included here. For example, before actually getting an NOC, one might have made some unsuccessful attempts to get one and lost some money in the process. Since such amounts were not reported by a large proportion of our respondents, we have not been able to include them in the cost of the NOC. Most of the unskilled emigrants had to wait for several months in Bombay before they succeeded in leaving the country. The sub-agents in Kerala had taken them to Bombay where they anxiously awaited the decision of the principal agent about their suitability for emigration. In cases in which the decision was unfavourable, they had to seek the assistance of other agents. But even those who were selected had to wait for the arrival of a ship or a plane to carry them abroad. The expenses incurred for staying in Bombay and in seeking alternative agents have been included in the table to the extent possible under 'other costs\ 'Other costs' also include expenditure on dress and packing materials purchased specifically for travel abroad. In a few cases, the prospective employer recruited the personnel and paid for the passage. The travel costs as far as the emigrant is concerned were minimal in such cases. But many persons looked for jobs only after arriving in the immigrant country and some employers paid the cost of the travel from Bombay or from Trivandrum as the case may be, to those who were thus selected. We have subtracted the costs of travel from the initial total cost incurred by the potential emigrant whenever it has been reimbursed later by an employer. Some items of expenditure were incurred by emigrants on arrival in the immigrant country. For example, when an NOC is changed from a visit NOC to an employment NOC, the person has to go out of the country and then reenter. Or, he may have to remain unemployed for some time before he secures a job, staying with friends or relatives meanwhile. Owing to lack of data, such costs are excluded from our calculation. Sometimes, the employer impounds the passport of the employee so that the latter is not free to go out and seek better paid jobs elswhere. One emigrant in our sample had to pay a sum of Rs 10,000 and another Rs 15,000 for the release of their passports. Both are skilled workers from Koipram. Such items could not be included in our calculation since data were not available in the case of all the emigrants included in the table. Some of the complexities relate to the NOC payment itself. For instance, in certain cases, if the buyer of an N00 does not have enough money to pay for it, the NOC is given on the understanding that the price will be paid from his earnings when he secures the job. In our table, the actual price of NOC is entered irrespective of such differences in payment. Similarly, it is also necessary to make a few clarifications about the sources of finance. In 'borrowing', we have included only borrowing on payment of inteiest. Thus money donated by or borrowed from relatives and friends for which no interest was to be paid, and deferred payment for the NOC as described in the last paragraph are all classified as own sources of finance, ^ale of Property* refers mainly to sale of land and/or gold. q The per capita income of Kerala at constant prices in 1974-75 is estimated to be Rs 307 compared to Rs 343 for India as a whole. Economic Review: 1976, State Planning Board, Gjvernmsnt of Kerala, In terms of per capita income at current prices, Kerala ranks eighth among the 18 states of India; Economic Review : 1975, Table 2.20 State Planning Board. 10 This was inaugurated in Trivandrum on January 27, 1978. Its main objectives are to avail of the overseas employment opportunities, to start industries abroad, mobilize financi alcapital from emigrant and other agencies, and to promote exports.