Nasscom pooh-poohs report on call centers

NEW DELHI: Terming a newspaper report that termed call centers as '19th century prisons' or 'Roman slave ships' as appalling, Nasscom chairman Kiran Karnik said that no effort was made by the reporter to get the other side of the story.

“Normal media ethics require a quote from the other side also, but no attempt was made to contact Nasscom to get the other side of the story. Some of the facts are right like workers have to inform if they are coming late, etc., but comparing call centers to 'prison camps' and 'Roman slave houses' is very surprising and I am pained by this terminology,” Karnik told media at a press conference here.

Putting the report in a broader concept, Karnik said that India is doing well in every field and we take pride that the IT industry is being recognized for the role it is playing in India's growth.

“The BPO industry openly challenges any industry to prove that the working conditions there are better than that of the BPO industry. I would like to go to the institute (V.V. Giri National Institute of Labor), on the basis of whose report this story was done and see if the work conditions, compensation levels and prospects of career growth and training are better than that in the BPO industry,” he added.

Reacting to the report, president of Nasscom's BPO forum and president and CEO of Genpact, Pramod Bhasin said, “It is incomprehensible that a newspaper of such a stature would bring out such a story without proper quotes. No one has seen the report as yet and as far as I know this report is around one-and-a-half years old. The study itself has to be validated first.

While rest of the world is faking our progress, some irresponsible people are trying to kill the golden goose.”

“I am aghast at the story and would invite the media to visit the Genpact campus and compare our offices with global standards,” Bhasin added.

Enraged by the report, member of the Nasscom BPO HR forum and chief of HR at EXL Services India, Deepak Dhawan said, “The work environment in the industry is among the best compared with any other services. BPO HR policies and practices are at the cutting-edge because the whole HR infrastructure is very important to the business.”

But is this a part of a conspiracy against the BPO sector? First there was the issue about data protection, then came the sting operation and then the news about ban on women taking night shifts in call centers!

Bhasin replied: “I don't think there is a conspiracy. But I am mystified - from where the spate of articles are coming from and why at this time.”

According to Karnik, the next course of action includes seeing the report and entering into a dialogue with the institute about the report.

“We also plan to sit with the media and be more forthcoming about the perception and image of the industry,” he added.

Reacting to the need of unions in the BPO industry, Karnik again reiterated that BPO industry can have unions if the employees want, but at this point they do not see the need for one and also a union is not even needed in the industry.

He also said that Nasscom is working towards setting up a self-regulatory organization for the BPO industry, which would lay down standards, best practices for data protection, work conditions, etc.

However, he added that it would not be mandatory for the BPO companies to join the organization.