Regulations and Remittances from British Indian Indentured Guianese

Roopnarine’s article focuses on two themes: the system of remittances and the amount of savings remitted from British Guiana to India during the period of Indian indenture. The article shows that an inadequate registration system as well as poor communication among indentured Indians with their homeland stymied the process of sending remittances. Remittances were left unclaimed in both British Guiana and India. Nevertheless, indentured Indians did remit significant savings from British Guiana, although these savings did not come solely from indentured labor. The article concludes that while a majority of indentured Indians benefited marginally from indentured service, a small number of them took back more savings than what was revealed to the Immigration Department.