Outsourcing: The Salvation?

Whenever I have voiced my skepticism about outsourcing and its long-term sustainability as a driver of economic growth, I have met with attacks, (especially from those whose knowledge of India begins and ends with "The World is Flat"). Back in 2004, a report from the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) noted, to realise the potential for linkages and spillovers and to promote economic growth, including at the regional level, a stronger domestic market-orientation was necessary; simialrly, the boom in software and IT-enabled services may lead potentially to adverse effects on other parts of the economy that compete for skilled manpower. Today blog GigaOm reports that three leading Indian newspapers including The Hindustan Times and the Times of India talking about the problems of becoming the backoffice of the world.The real issue is not only that nature of the outsourced work is unable to provide its employees with job satisfaction over the longer term. But more importantly, what kind of a "knowledge economy" does it really create? Read more!

The composite ABCD

The acronym for American Born Confused Desi was an inspired coinage on the part of Indian Americans.Per Wikipedia ".....ABCD is a term that refers to people of Desi origin (of South Asian descent), living in the United States. "Confused" refers to their confusion regarding their identity, having been born in America or lived there since childhood and been closer to American culture than their native culture...."

However, there is much in the behaviour pattern of the South Asians of America which can cause confusion not only to themselves, but in others too as they search for a composite image for this increasingly visible group.

A magazine published from New Jersey describes itself as the "largest circulated Indian publication in the USA". It should be safe to assume that scanning the pages of this publication would assist in building a composite image that would be true to the reality, and provide glimpses of the standards and aspirations of South Asians in the country. Certainly, leafing through a recent issue, the articles did reinforce many of the positive stereotypes which spring to mind when thinking of South Asians in America. I recall a security guard at a New York club who addressed me as "Doc". Clearly he assumed that an Indian crossing those portals had to be a Doctor of some sort.

Many of the ads in the magazine - real estate brokerages, technical services, investment houses, home decor - clearly speak to a target audience which was clearly affluent, upwardly mobile and sophisticated.

And then suddenly there was an ad across two full pages, placed by a "World Famous Peer Sahib" based in England offering spiritual remedies for issues such as "husband and wife domestic problems", "marriage of your own choice", "..life affected by any kind of evil spirits or black magic".

There were other ads from psychics, one from a lady who "...mends marriages, Stops enemies, solves business, financial and family problems" and another describing herself as "Spiritual Doctor" modestly claims that she "...Performs miracles ; restores love, happiness and success.."
Another website offering services to "...prevent & destroy black magic, evil powers and jadoo.." includes the catchy slogan "....Doing business with God".

Interestingly, all of the ads mention "immigration problems" among their catalogue of ills for which they profess to have solutions.

The Peer Sahib from England confidently proclaims in his ad that "..100% guarantee in less than one week your every wish will come true" . I presume that under the Truth in Advertising laws, this claim is capable of strict verification.

What place do these services have in the make-up of the composite Indian image in North America ? Where do they fit in amongst the lawyers, IT gurus, astronauts, research fellows, management consultants and finance professionals that make up the popular image ? Read more!

"Salvaging Singur, Slowly but surely"

"At the heart of the happenings in Singur, which has come to be the symbol of a countrywide passionate debate on land acquisition for industry, are three questions. Who are the people being dislocated by it? Who among the locals are opposed to the project? And who are in its favour?" This is piece by Arindam Sengupta, published in The Economic Times To take the last question first, three categories of people readily agreed to give their land for the project. One, the absentee landlords, who owned land in Singur but lived in cities like Kolkata; two, the share-croppers (bargadars) whose names are registered in government records; and three, cultivators who stood to lose only a part of their land." Read it here> Read more!

UK's policy against age-based discrimination

http://www.dti.gov.uk/employment/discrimination/age-discrimination/index.html
Check out UK's policy against age-based discrimination Read more!

The New Untouchables!

If being single, female and living in Delhi was not bad enough - it's now also about not being young. What with all the hype and hoopla around India and its population getting younger by the nano second - 30 + is now old and over 40, positively over the top. Beyond that you're the official old fogeys. Unfortunately, this young addiction seems to be catching up with HR policies at workplaces and on the social scene as well. Give me the age-ing western countries which have some sensitivity towards its senior citizens - any time. Read more!

Indian pros becoming hot favourite for Europeans

The highly skilled migrant programme in UK may have run into rough weather. But skilled Indian professionals are finding an alternative in continental Europe. The non-English speaking countries of Europe such as Germany, the Netherlands and France are increasingly wooing Indians into their workforce. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Indian_pros_becoming_hot_favourite_for_Europeans/articleshow/1560690.cms Read more!

If we have more billionaries now, poverty will end by 2040

This is the argument the Indian Finance Minister seemed to making when he was interviewed by the BBC. Apparently only 25 percent of Indians live under $1 a day (about 250 million people). They will all come out of poverty via "trickle down" and of course, the call centers, the magical salvation for us all!

Actually the BBC interview was quite wrong in trying to connect Tata Steel's take over of Corus directly to India's poverty. This is one of the simplicities I so abhor..Tata is simply playing the game according to the current rules and doing well at it. The Finance Minister's job is to assess, and if necessary, alter the rules of the game so that it promotes public interest, and at the very least, to minimize possible conflicts between public and private interests. The least the BBC could do - rather than telling the world how deeply they care about India's poor rather than Ratan Tata's economic prowess, was to ask the FM about taxation. How was he planning to tax the newly created wealth? Does not require great progressive vision, does it? For the longest time, Indian governments have figured out excellent ways to deduct tax-at-source, mostly for middle-class Indians. But agrarian incomes, professions, and businesses remain disproportionately undertaxed vis-a-vis the working middle class.

Another simple question: is he doing anything to protect real wages from falling? The National Sample Surveys raise some important concerns in this regard. Stay tuned Read more!