Republican Fund Raising Outsourced to India
Republican Fund Raising Outsourced to India
Date: Tuesday, February 04, 2003 9:50 PM
H-1B and JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER
www.ZaZona.com
Next time a Republican party fund raiser calls and asks for a handout,
you might want to ask if they are calling from the United States or
from Noida or Gurgaon.
Included are some articles about labor in the Republican's choice of
call centers - Noida and Gurgaon.
http://www.rediff.com/money/2003/jan/31bush.htm
Bush's party to raise funds via Noida, Gurgaon
Bipin Chandran in New Delhi | | January 31, 2003 | 11:59 IST
The US Republican Party now has a band of young and enthusiastic
fund-raisers in Noida and Gurgaon.
HCL eServe, the business process outsourcing arm of the Shiv
Nadar-promoted HCL Technologies, has bagged a project to undertake a
fund-raising campaign for the US Republican Party over the telephone.
This is the first time such a project has been handed out to a company
outside the US. The market research and public relations companies
engaged by the party usually undertake such projects.
HCL eServe has put in place a team of 75 people to work on the project
out of its call centres in Noida and Gurgaon. According to industry
sources, the number of seats could be ramped up depending on the
success of the campaign. These operators are required to call up people
in the US seeking their support for President George W Bush and a
donation for the Republican cause.
HCL eServe functionaries, however, refused to comment on the issue. "We
cannot comment on any client-related issues as a policy," said the
company spokesperson.
According to the sources, the calling process involves high degree of
automation in order to limit human intervention. "The process is
designed in such a way as to limit human intervention. The company
wants to complete the process using the integrated voice recording
technology, which allows navigation using voice responses," said the
source.
The Republican contract comes on the heels of a successful
anti-abortion campaign run by HCL eServe for a US politician.
HCL eServe is building additional capacity in view of an expected
growth in business. It is giving final touches to two new facilities?--
a 1,200-seat centre in Noida and a 700-seat centre in Chennai.
The company's board has approved an investment of $40 million for HCL
eServe, which the company is expected to utilise to fund its various
growth plans.
India has generated considerable interest amongst global corporations
looking at outsourcing key business processes. According to the
National Association of Software and Services Companies, the Indian
business process outsourcing sector has seen a four-fold increase in
employment from 25,000 in 1999 to 106,000 in 2002.
According to Nasscom, India's IT-enabled sector will exceed $20 billion
by 2008.
http://www.twnside.org.sg/title/sita-cn.htm
Sita and her daughters: Women workers at an Indian export-processing
zone
In this graphic account of life at an export-processing zone (EPZ) near
Delhi, T K Rajalakshmi reveals the terrible price that workers in a
developing country pay when it embraces a policy of export-led growth.
THE women call it 'the Boundary'. The barbed-wire fence which encloses
them for up to 12 hours a day lies hidden behind a facade of manicured
lawns and smart-looking buildings of the Noida Export Processing Zone
(NEPZ), 24 km from India's capital city.
Inside, it is hot, dirty and dangerous. Security is tight - humiliating
body-searches are routine - and trade union activity is forbidden. But
for the nearly 4,000 women - many landless, illiterate and unskilled -
who work in the zone, the choices are stark: work under these appalling
conditions or starve.
'She was six months pregnant. Her baby died in her stomach. It was
blue, we learnt later. She was like any other worker who stood for
eight or more hours,' an employee who requested anonymity says of a
colleague.
'I lied about my marital status at the time of recruitment,' adds
another. 'We had to send our three-month-old baby to my parents' home
as we cannot afford a private creche.'
Established in 1985, NEPZ is one of six such zones in the country.
Women make up 40% of its workforce. Like export processing zones (EPZs)
across Asia, factories here like to hire women - preferably single -
believing them to be more docile and productive than men. Between 1994
and 1996, the number of women workers here tripled while that of men
doubled as India pursued an aggressive growth strategy.
EPZs have mushroomed around the developing world, vying with one
another to offer special incentives to entrepreneurs to set up
export-oriented manufacturing units. The assumption is that export-led
growth will benefit the economies of developing countries.
In Noida, an industrial-cum-residential suburb of New Delhi, such
incentives include corporate tax holidays, duty-free imports of capital
goods, raw material and components, and exemption from excise duty and
other levies on their products. Another government 'gift' grants NEPZ
units public-utility status, which mandates that workers cannot take
strike action over wages and conditions without a lengthy period of
'conciliation'.
Record profits
Unsurprisingly, NEPZ has posted record profits - the value of exports
increased from Rs720 million (US$16.8 million) in 1990-1991 to Rs6.04
billion (US$141 million) in 1997-1998.
But this growth has brought little cheer to the lives of workers,
especially women. Wages in the zone are lower than outside and workers
have to cope with harsh working and pitiful living conditions -
overcrowded slums that lack sanitation, clean water and access to
government schools and health services.
Maternity benefits are unknown and minimum wages unenforced,
particularly in the case of women workers. And employers often avoid
making provident fund and gratuity contributions and bonus payments.
Dhiraj Singh, a manager at Garmex India, whose export-ready garments
are stitched by 600 women and 100 men, is remarkably frank about hiring
practices.
'There are so many benefits with women employees,- he says.
'Administratively, it is easy to control women. We do not need to have
too much security. We prefer the age group 18 to 30 years, preferably
single.' Singh goes on to explain that only married women will ask for
maternity leave. Garmex also boasts of a TcrecheU. In reality it is
a storeroom full of cardboard boxes.
Savitri (not her real name), a female supervisor in Garmex, confirms
the discriminatory practices. Women workers who marry are thrown out,
she says. At the time of recruitment, women have to take a compulsory
pregnancy test. Those found pregnant are refused work. Overtime is
compulsory for most but women are paid lower rates than men.
Dismal
Women within the Boundary do get pregnant, however, and the health
outcomes for them and their infants are often dismal. Miscarriages,
premature births and deaths among new-born babies may largely be due to
maternal anaemia and poor nutritional status, according to health
workers.
Dr Pratibha Sharma, who has run a clinic for the last 10 years in a
shantytown near NEPZ, says the level of exploitation is 'unimaginable'.
She says women workers have frequent abortions - often unsafe - for
fear of losing their jobs. Respiratory problems, pelvic inflammatory
disease and severe cases of dehydration are common. Anaemia is chronic
and severe.
Sharma says miscarriages are very common and believes they are due to
forced overtime, coupled with women's double burden of having to do
housework as well.
Quacks proliferate in EPZ slums, providing abortion for a fee. They are
sought out by desperate women unwilling to face hostile health workers
at government hospitals. 'I see many horror cases,' Sharma says. 'There
was a five-month-pregnant woman whose rectum and vagina were perforated
due to a faulty abortion.'
Daily struggle
But horrors lie outside the clinic as well, in the daily lives of
women. One such woman is Sita, a Nepalese migrant worker in a surgical
gloves factory who heads a household of two daughters ' one of them
married with an infant.
'We thought life would be easier for us here but it is a struggle. My
daughters have to work as my income alone cannot sustain the family,'
she says. Home is a tiny room. And seven families share one toilet. The
married daughter sends her child to a creche where she pays Rs500
(US$11.70) every month out of a meagre salary of Rs1,800 (US$42).
For Sita and her daughters, the day starts before dawn and ends at
midnight. 'All the work that has been left in the morning has to be
done in the evening,' she says, adding that her son-in-law 'just sits
and orders us around'. Even under these conditions, many women workers
are expected to produce sons demanded of them by husbands and
parents-in-law.
'The only advantage for these women is that they are staying away from
(bullying) in-laws,' notes Dr Sharma.
Sita says: I want my daughters to be independent.' (Third World
Resurgence No. 107, July 1999)
The above article appeared in PANOS Features (1 May 1999).
T K Rajalakshmi was awarded the Panos Reproductive Health Media
Fellowship in 1998.
http://www.undp.org.in/news/press/press165.htm
Project TEAM Launched
Major Push to Elimination of Child Labour in Gurgaon
New Delhi, 28 April:
Getting children out of work and into schools, with a special focus on
the girl child, is a high priority for UNDP, and the whole UN family.
This was stated by the Resident Coordinator of the UN System and UNDP
Resident Representative, Dr Brenda Gael McSweeney, here today. She was
speaking at the Launch of Project "TEAM", a joint initiative of the
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), British High Commission
and SNS Foundation, Gurgaon.
(From Left) Mr. Jagdish Anand, Chairman SNS Foundation, Dr. L. Mishra
Secretary, Labour GOI, Mr. Tom Macan, Dy. High Commissioner, British
High Commission, Dr. Brenda Gael McSweeney, UN Resident Coordinator and
UNDP Resident Representative and the Divisional Commissioner, Gurgaon,
at the Launch of Project TEAM.
The Town Enrichment Action Movement (TEAM) Project will attempt to
create the necessary environment in Gurgaon on the enrolment of all
children below 14 years into school. The project is guided by the
philosophy that all children out of school are child labour or
potentially so. The focus of the project will be on the Rajeev Nagar
Slum of Gurgaon.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr McSweeney said Haryana is a state where a
large number of children are out of school, with female literacy as low
as 41 per cent. "The partnership between the bilateral, multilateral
and the private sectors to get children out of work and into school in
Rajeev Nagar is an innovative and significant feature of the TEAM
Project", she observed.
The chairman of SNS Foundation, Mr. Jagdish Anand disclosed that the
project attempts to mobilise the private sector, educational
institutions, religious leaders, NGOs, government officials, the
police, the media, resident welfare associations and the community. The
long-term objective of the project is the establishment of a strategy
for drawing all Gurgaon children into compulsory education programme.
Delivering the keynote address, Secretary Labour, Dr. L. Mishra
expressed the hope that the project will draw upon the collective
strengths of motivated, willing and committed individuals from all
sections of Gurgaon residents to create necessary momentum in Gurgaon
for enrolment of all children below 14 years into schools, as well as
address issues such as provision of a platform for local NGOs and
industry to join hands in providing meaningful skills training to older
school drop-outs and support to ensure that students complete high
school through the National Open School system of Government of India.
Creation of mass awareness about the rights of all children to
education and development and the laws currently in force in this
regard applicable for employers will form an intrinsic part of the
strategy. The Salaam Balak Trust, a Delhi-based voluntary group working
with street children mounted a theatre performance on the occasion.
Fully enacted by children, the play movingly captured the sorry plight
of child workers in the carpet industry.
Earlier, at a workshop for the national media on Elimination of the
Worst Forms of Child Labour held here yesterday, the United Nations
sought media help in raising public awareness on child labour and
mobilising action for rehabilitation of the children.
UNICEF Representative, Mr. Alan Court said that the media could apart
from raising awareness also monitor commitments made and highlight the
successes. The challenge was in making visible the invisible child
exploited in labour. The media was in a unique position to create
awareness among the public and the decision makers.
Two journalists Dr Asha Krishnakumar of Frontline and freelance
photographer Anita Khemka shared eyewitnesses accounts of child labour
as they found it while working on child labour assignments. Dr
Krishnakumar said it was in the 1980s that a series of accidents
brought the issue of child labour in this hazarduous firecracker
industry to national and international attention. Though the media took
up the issue there has was little change.
Freelance photographer Anita Khemka said she found that children had
moved out from factories or working units into houses where they became
unseen child labourers in Firozabad.
Identifying the worst forms of child labour as listed under ILO
Convention No 182, Director International Labour Organisation (ILO), Ms
Mary Johnson said these include all forms of slavery , sale and
trafficking of children, forced labour, debt bondage, recruitment for
armed conflict, prostitution, use of children in illegal activities
like pornography and drug trafficking. Also, all work which is likely
to harm the health, safety or morals of the children.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr McSweeney, said no society can afford to
build its economy on the backs of working children. She said unless
there is an expansion of schooling, the vicious cycle of child labour,
poverty and child labour will not be broken.
Concluding the workshop, Dr L Mishra, Union Labour Secretary, said that
media has a great role in identifying and highlighting child labour and
exploitation. He underscored the importance of creative education and
the role of media in changing the mindset of people.
Sixteen UN Organisations under the stewardship of the International
Labour Organisation have come together to support the Indian government
and other parties in their effort towards elimination of child labour.
For further information please contact:
Kumar Tiku,
Information Officer,
UNDP, New Delhi.
http://www.expressindia.com/fe/daily/19980712/19355264.html
Sunday, July 12, 1998
Poor infrastructure, cumbersome rules arrest Gurgaon industry's growth
Ravi Kapoor
Gurgaon July 11: Gurgaon enjoys the reputation of a high-growth
industrial area. Its proximity to the Capital and the Indira Gandhi
International Airport has stood it in a good stead. Industrial
relations are good. According to the Gurgaon Chamber of Commerce &
Industry (GCCI) figures, revenue collection from this Haryana district
was highest in 1997-98. But local businessmen feel that congestion and
poor infrastructure can arrest the industrial growth.
Says Rahul Kacker, president, GCCI, "Entrepreneurs have little scope to
grow." Which is hardly a good portent, as most of the industry in the
district are in the small and medium sector. With real estate prices
going skywards, the entrepreneur is often forced to shelve his
expansion plans.
Conversion of agricultural land into industrial one is very expensive,
Rs 9-10 lakh per acre, and it takes a long time, about one year.
Further, government policies are not clear, says Kacker. "There are
numerous problems regarding the change of land use. If I want tochange
my line of business because I find another one more lucrative or my
line has not remained profitable, I have to get a number of approvals.
There can be objections if I start manufacturing something which
involves, say, a polluting process. But in normal circumstances, there
should be no hassles," he says.
Local industrialists feel that officials are irritatingly meddlesome,
and that is how they make moolah. "The bureaucrats feel that we are the
mythical kamdhenu cow that can be milked as much as one likes to. Every
official wants his pound of flesh," says Col R P Dhawan, president,
Udyog Vihar Industries Association (UVIA), Gurgaon.
Udyog Vihar is located on National Highway 8 and is one of the most
promising industrial estates of Haryana. It has over 1,700 units which
are mainly in the SME sector. Haryana State Industrial Development
Corporation (HSIDC) was given the responsibility of developing the
complex along with all the facilities like roads, sewerage, street
lighting, post offices and firestations.
The authorities have not fared well in providing facilities. Roads are
full of potholes and badly need repairs in most places. Street lighting
is hardly satisfactory. Heaps of garbage are found everywhere, some of
which have blocked roads. But the biggest problem is the pathetic
sewerage system. Says Devender Singh, deputy commissioner, Gurgaon,
"Udyog Vihar sewers are being connected with the HUDA master sewer. The
work on sewage treatment plants (STPs) is also on."
Bad roads, poor sewerage, and other such problems are because of the
lack of pro-active, perspective planning on the part of the
authorities. Laments Dhawan, "We paid for fully developed industrial
area. What the area we got is neither developed nor industrial."
Dhawan also has problems with the attitude of officials. He says "The
officials' mindset is still colonial. The same condescending attitude,
`We allowed you to set up industry. You have prospered because of us.
Therefore, you shall always look up to us for direction.' Butthe fact
is that we have prospered in spite of, and not because of, the
officialdom."
Dhawan and his cronies are extremely wary of -- what they feel are --
the officious officials of HSIDC. "Why can't they just leave us alone?"
asks S S Verma, vice-president, UVIA. "Why do they harass us all the
time? It's my business, my baby. I'll run it, not you."
The Financial Express carried the dispute between HSIDC and the UVIA in
its May 21 issue. In the article, the UVIA had charged HSIDC for
perpetrating "the worst form of State terrorism." HSIDC, on its part,
had retaliated by calling the UVIA a "bunch of property agents"
masquerading as "genuine entrepreneurs".
There are many other issues that need to be attended to in all
earnestness. One is the lack of any arrangement for the lodging of
workers. "So far, there are no slums in Gurgaon," says Kacker. "But if
no housing arrangements are made, shanty settlements may mushroom" in
the foreseeable future. Dhawan agrees: "We have informed the government
ofthis issue. We are willing to contribute our share."
Another problem is that of the scarcity of skilled labour. "Industry
needs people who can work on computerised machines. An institute
imparting such training can be set up. But ITIs are useless, out of
sync with the requirements of the industry. They are still training
people to use lathe machines, work presses, etc. They have ancient
equipment. We need better trained people," says Kacker.
Entrepreneurs are confident that if given proper facilities, they can
can do wonders.
Copyright ) 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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