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30% Reservation for Kannadigas in IT jobs - What do you say?

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Resservation for Kannadigas in IT jobs is an agenda for the JDS party as well as KRV. In a recent discussion in CNN-IBN, Kannadigas expressed it should be whereas outsiders said it as a ridiculous agenda.

One person said that Kannadigas has to come upto the mark and get the job and the education level in Karnataka has to improve!!

Well, I felt that this is a Chicken and Egg Question. Since the education level in Karnataka was good and talented people were available, in the early 90's, the companies started opening in Bangalore. It was the Infosys which was started mainly by Kannadigas started a revolution in Bangalore. Although there are 'N' number of critics are there on them, still credit for the part of the IT revolution in Bangalore goes to Infosys.

Now, there are so many IT companies, and people from other states are pouring in to Bangalore and they are developing their own 'TEAMs' here.

I have had very bad experiences being a Kannadiga with interviewers from other states and they are doing reservation for their state men in Bangalore.

I went to HCL interview in Bangalore and I found most of the candidates are from Tamilnadu. The interviewer was also from Tamilnadu and spoke to me in Tamil initially in Bangalore. When I spoke to him in English, saying I don't know Tamil, his face got changed and the questions that he put me in interview was totally irrelevant and somewhere from corners for the books and I was finally not selected.

Similar thing happened in another company in Bangalore where the main HRD was from Kerala. I got selected finally, but, the offer for me was below par compared to Keralites who attended the interview.

Currently, in my company here in Bangalore, there is one manager who is basically from Tamilnadu and his team is full of Tamilians.

After having exprerienced all these things first hand being Kannadiga in Bangalore was highly embarassing.Outside state people doing reservation for their people in IT companies in Bangalore, and saying reservation for Kannadigas as a ridiculous one. I know we Kannadigas don't want reservation and we are talented enough to get the employment without reservations. Our talent attracted many companiess to Bangalore and which are currently ruled by others.

I know there will be 'n' number of critics for this, but, what is the answer for reservation for outsiders happening 'unofficially'? Answer this question before commenting on Kannadigas reservation which ofcourse I say we don't want.

Where we want the reservation is the service jobs of the IT companies such as electricians,watchman, drivers, etc.

Comments

kiran8's picture

Reserving a certain number

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Reserving a certain number of seats for desrving kannadigas is definitely a good idea, but one immediately begins to suspect the logic behind this promise by JDS ..its loud and clear Election promise and one cannot put much faith into it.

But on a broader issue, i feel that when these companies are recruiting personnel based on language or other criteria, with disregard for other capablities , they themselves will be the ultimate sufferers as quality and effeciency is bound to come down.We have the best of colleges here in Karnataka and naturally a very able set of graduates are coming out every year, and if the IT companies shun them, then the loss is theirs....

silkboard's picture

Definition of Kannadiga?

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What if we define Kannadiga has someone who can comprehend and speak the local language? Think TOKSL (Test of Kannada as spoken language) And then, have some 'reservation' for Kannadigas in local jobs. This way, you (sort of) kill two birds with one stone - promote local language (entice 'migrants' to learn the language), and offer some protection to resident mod/low-skilled labor as learning local language wil be a sort of a 'barrier'. Kannada should be the winner, either way.

Vasanth, folks favoring their own 'tribe' - this has to be fought in different way than this. You may be mixing two things - reservation for locals, and discrimination. Employment favors based on religion/caste/sex/tribe, if they can be proved, should be weeded out legally. I think regulatory tightening is what you are asking for first..

Its far too common for people to ask personal questions in interviews. Married? Children? Place of origin? - downright inappropriate if you ask me. Even at work, a select group of folks speaking in a language that some others can't understand - this could be termed as harassment. To me, even the use of words ('surd', 'gult', 'mallu') that some may consider derogatory could also amount to harassment.

We know these things are hard to prove, and legal measures to set these right would lead to some misuse and unnecessary legal expenses. But over time, creating and enforcing these types of laws will help promote ethics, professionalism and equality.

A disclaimer - laws like this ( EEO - equal employment opportunity of US) may exist in our country, but I am not much aware of their exact form.

City.Zen's picture

TOKSL is already there?

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I believe TOKSL is already there in the State government promotions, especially in the IAS cadres? The logic probably is that the public servants can serve the public better if they (mostly those IAS/IPS guys from outside) are familiar with the local lingo. The reservation of jobs for locals might have made sense in the bad old days of regulation and permit raj where job opportunities were scarce. With the acute shortage of skilled manpower in every field, reservation policy will not work. Some of us might have read newspaper reports of what is happening in Mumbai because of ousting of Biharis. Nepotism, favoritism are nothing new. Railways are the best example. A generation or two earlier, it was full of Tamilians and now probably Biharis. On the west coast from Kanyakumari to Mumbai, it is full of Malayalees. As for the argument "Kannada should be the winner, either way," I feel Kannada should not develop through artificial props and legislation and agitations. It should ideally develop through its own inherent strengths and through the adventurous spirit and loyalty of the Kannadigas themselves. For eg., because of IT people from every part of India and the world are flocking to Namma Bengalooru and are forced to pick up a smattering of Kannada. SL Bhyrappa's controversial books have reached far away lands like Rumania.
City Zen
shobha koppad's picture

Firstly,

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Firstly,

We should look at why such a demand has come up??

If IT jobs were all recruited purely on merit basis, then such a demand wouldn't have arised at the first place.

It is very very evident in bangalore IT cos that a Tamilian will give preference to a tamilian, a mullu to a mallu candidate, a bengali will do anything for a bengali.. and hence they outnumber us.

We all know, the nature of jobs and kind of skills required in few of the biggest MNCs. 50% of IT jobs doesn't even need a graduate degree leave alone an Engg degree and this 50% makes for atleast 100000 jobs ( Assuming IT jobs at bangalore to be around 200000 ( it is definately more than that)) and you need very basic skills to hire a guy for these 1 lakh jobs and here where the foul play happens.

I was with TCS for 2 years and I have seen some of the guys from TN, who were even sent to Onsite, were hardly able to speak a proper sentence in English !! and they were all campus recruits !! ofcourse hired by a Tamilian manager from BLR.

So, those who say there is no injustice or discrimination against Kannadigas in IT recruitments are actually living in a fool's paradise. We, Kannadigas don't want any reservation but if this trend of biased attitude, discrimination against us continues, then, a reservation wouldn't be a bad idea after all !!

 

 

hiranyaaksha's picture

Reserve more, just 30% ain't sufficient.

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In IT companies Kannadigas are already at the level of 30%. We need no special reservation for increasing the existing percentage. But, what we need is 85%, as advised by Sarojini Mahishi in her report.

Kannadigas need to populate in the lower cadre to increase their presence. For this, the local people have to be trained on Soft skills and English.

Human resource is available abundantly in rural areas. training them on Soft skills and increasing their level of English Language is one simple solution.  

I had read about the same in CIOL.com. Here is the link.

http://www.ciol.com/News/News-Reports/Karnataka-Rakshana-Vedike-to-train-rural-students/7508105852/0/

Naveen's picture

Reservations - A necessity now

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The only way to counter such behaviour is through reservations.

 

And this is not confined to IT jobs alone - Selection of domestic servants, drivers & gardeners is also being done on the basis of state & language. Many wish to choose candidates belonging to their own state & do not want the locals for reasons best known to them. For example, a tamil speaking family arrived from USA & insisted on a tamilian driver & servant as soon as they moved in to bangalore, but were unable to find them. So, they employed a local driver & then sacked him when they found a local 'tamil-also-speaking' help. I'm sure their search is still on as they are yet to find a perfect tamil-speaking replacement.

 

murali772's picture

a slightly different perspective

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The IT companies are in the highly competitive global market. If they resort to nepotism of the kind mentioned here, it will definitely reflect on their product quality, which they just cannot afford. As such, even if there may have been some such instances in the past, they just cannot be the rule, and even these anomalies will get corrected sooner than later.

This I am stating of the companies in the private sector. Government companies (including railways) are not quite guided by market forces, and consequently, artificialities are a rule.

There's a tremendous demand today for good talent, not just in the IT sector, but equally everywhere. If it can be met locally, nobody is going to go looking for it elsewhere. And, if there's a pocket of talent elsewhere, they would rather set up a unit there than get the people here, quite like many of these companies have already done.

If currently soft skills are not in adequate supply in Karnataka, it's the government's educational policy which is to blame. The IT companies are in fact doing their best to correct this situation.

And, very much as Citi.zen has pointed out, and like I have stated before, Karnataka has enough strengths on its own for any need for excessive protection. Quite as for children, excessive protection only hampers growth.

On the question of TOKSL, I would like to go one step further and suggest that only those who get through it, should be eligible to vote in local (state assembly and municipal) elections, without taking away their rights to participate in the parliamentary elections. That will ensure that if anyone wants to settle down in Karnataka, and have a voice in local governance, he will have to become a 'Kannadiga' proper. Given today's technology, I expect this can very easily be incorporated into the voter ID card. But, of course, it will require a constitutional amendment.

PS: If people are prepared to discuss these matters in polite language, the debate can go on. But, otherwise, I am afraid, I'll have to opt out.

 

Muralidhar Rao
malini's picture

Reservation for kannadigas in IT firms

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The IT sector is a strict merotocracy and there is no place for quotas. The situation is similar to that which exists in the armed forces.

IT companies have to compete in the global market and therefore they need the best brains available. Moreover, these companies have been established with capital raised from all over India and even from abroad (venture funds) and their clients come from the world over.

Therefore these companies have to hire on a national basis with focus only on brains. Any other consideration will end in defeat at the marketplace.

The demand for quotas is a fallout of the PSU culture. PSUs are not strictly business enterprises as they are funded by the public. But IT firms are not like that. They have to compete in the global marketplace and earn their keep.

 

malini

Nepotism rules at IT sector

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//The IT sector is a strict merotocracy and there is no place for quotas.//

Ms Malini - your statement what you said about maybe true for certain levels of IT work. But overall, there is a lot of nepotism at work. As indicated by the posters here some Tamilian IT managers even conduct their interviews in Tamil instead of English.

This shows how much of nepotism is there at work.

If it exceeds a certain level then the government will forcefully step in. IT companies should on a voluntary basis hire more Kannadigas and support the educational infrastructure in Karnataka instead of going to tom, dick and harry colleges in god forsaken towns like Eluru, Tirunelveli to hire from. 

City.Zen's picture

Cross-pollination

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Cross-pollination refers to stimulating influence among diverse elements.

If today America is a super power it is only because it welcomed and continues to welcome merited people from all over the world.  Similarly, Australia and New Zealand developed because of outsiders.  If Mumbai is today the commercial capital of India, it is thanks to Gujaratis, Kannadigas, and others - but not Maharashtrians.

Let us take the example of Kannada literature itself.  The eminent Kannada writer from the U.S., DcemberStud http://decemberstud.wordpress.com and I wondered sometime back if Kannada was the only language in India which was greatly enriched by writers whose mother tongue was not Kannada.  How did this happen?  I would say it is because of the accommodative and loving nature of Kannadigas who always welcomed outsiders and made them feel at home by trying to speak with them in their language rather than in Kannada. The outsiders in turn adopted Kannada as their own and contributed immensely to Kannada's growth.  Could any of our appata Kannadigas ever create such masterpieces like Naa. Kasturi's ( a first generation Malayalee settled in Mysore) Anarthakosha? Or composed and sung such beautiful lines like "Innoo yaaka baralillaanvaa Hubballiyaanva" -- Bendre whose mother tongue was Marathi.

Take our favorite Bangalore.praja itself whose founder is not a Kannadiga by birth but by choice.  If it were not for his love and brains, would we be here today interacting with one another?  What if the 30% reservation rule had driven him away from Bangalore?

I work in an ITES company where every third person is a non-Kannadiga.  But I have found that almost all second-generation Malayalees of Bangalore in our company are more at home in Kannada than their own Malayalam.  They speak and read Kannada much better than some of our leaders of Kannada paksha or Vedike.  Even our MD, a Malayalee from Kolkatta, has learnt to speak in Kannada.

Our company had a target of employing 5000 people by the year 2004.  It is 2008 and we still have just 2000 people.  If reservations are introduced, we may have to shut shop here and relocate.  Who will be the loser then?  The entire Karnataka State would lose because the Karnataka Government would be poorer by the crores of rupees in taxes which our company and our employees pay.  The State would also lose our brains, our inputs in various areas, etc.

Let us find and nurture unity in diversity.  Let us encourage trade, commerce, culture without restrictions which stunt growth.

City Zen

//Our company had a target

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//Our company had a target of employing 5000 people by the year 2004.  It is 2008 and we still have just 2000 people. //

Your company could have easily expanded if it also set up shop in Mangalore and Hubli and therefore help develop these cities as well. There is no shortage of talent in these cities.

Cross pollination has always happened in Karnataka. Kannadigas welcome that. But what is nauseating is the blatant nepotism that works at lower levels in the IT industry. 

City.Zen's picture

mcadambi....

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"Your company could have easily expanded if it also set up shop in Mangalore and Hubli and therefore help develop these cities as well. There is no shortage of talent in these cities."

We did go to Mangalore in 1998 itself on a recruitment drive.  In spite of advertising in the local media and campus campaigns, just one candidate turned up in 3 days and was hired.  However, even after training he did not come up to our minimum standards and had to be shifted to our support division.

Even after 10 long years, we have less than 100 people from both Mangalore and Hubli put together.

 

 

City Zen
City.Zen's picture

TCS

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TCS, the #1 IT company, decided a few years ago to set up its SAP division in Bangalore  in spite of Bangalore's myriad problems.  They said Bangalore was the only place in the world where they could be sure of getting the 4000 SAP specialists they needed.

Cluster theory at work!

"Governments and companies often try to use the cluster effect to promote a particular place as good for a certain type of business. For example, the city of Bangalore, India has utilized the cluster effect in order to convince a number of high-tech companies to setup shop there. Similarly, the city of Las Vegas has benefited through the cluster effect of the gambling industry."  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_cluster)

Maybe 30 to 100% reservation is one way to destroy clusters and in the process solve Bangalore's problems and render bangalore.praja.in without work!

City Zen
Vasanth's picture

Mysore is a good city to go for

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Mysore has got premiere institutes like the SJCE and NIE and a very good place for education. Infact I am a product of Mysore schools and colleges. We get very good candidates. It would be great if companies open up in Mysore too.

If we see the weekend travellers between Bangalore and Mysore, we see too many IT professionals from Mysore working in Bangalore. Most of them are very much willing to settle down in Mysore if companies open up there even with compensation lesser than Bangalore. 

I came to know that Wipro has taken 600 acres of land near Mandakalli Airport (upcoming Mysore Airport) and TCS was planning to take near the place where NICE road begins. It was reported in local Mysore papers. No updates on that yet.

City.Zen's picture

My Sore - Chamalapur

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I agree with Vasant as to the potential of Mysore.  With the completion of BMIC road, Mysore's importance will be further strengthened.

Mysore already has the Infosys School Of Leadership which can train 5000 people at a time.  NRNM, like Vasanth, grew up and obtained his B.E. in Mysore.  However, there were rumors that Infosys might relocate if Chamalapur project was taken forward.

My company's first ever associate company has also been based in Mysore since 1997.

Mcadambi might be happy  to know that his Mangalore is not being ignored.  Mangalore has a century-long tradition of being good in Banking, having given birth to many great Banks.  Now, Deutsche Bank is setting up its entire world-wide back office in Mangalore where they have acquired 600 acres for the purpose.

Mangalore was also the first choice of Infosys when it wanted to grow outside Bangalore, way back in the late eighties.

City Zen
City.Zen's picture

Blatant Nepotism

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There have been accusations of blatant nepotism taking place in the "lower levels of IT companies."

I think this is a universal phenomenon.  For example, prior to nationalization, the Banks in Mangalore would prefer to hire people from their own communities and regions.  Like for example, Vijaya Bank would hire mostly Shettys and Rais from the Bunts community of Mangalore district.  Canara, Syndicate, and Corporation Banks would prefer Konkani people, Karnataka Bank would prefer brahmins, Catholic Syrian Bank would prefer Catholics, etc.

The employers and the bosses would naturally prefer to employ people with whom they would feel comfortable working and would normally prefer to help people with whom they were close.

Globalization and competition have greatly contributed to reducing this tendency.

I am reminded of the greatest example set by Infosys where the founder Narayanamurthy outrightly told his wife in the initial stages itself that only one of them could work in Infosys and not both.  When she accepted to work outside of Infosys, NRNM never allowed her to come inside his cabin because he wanted to practise what he believed - that public figures and people in high positions should not only be honest but also appear to be so.

City Zen
murali772's picture

a non-issue

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Exactly, Sir! That's all there's to it.

Also, if I understand correctly, a close relative of NRN's fell out with him since he refused to consider employing his son/ daughter who was not successful in their regular recruitment process.

Muralidhar Rao

Muralidhar Rao

Unfortunately, the cliche

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Unfortunately, the cliche that only merit works for IT company's is not true. Even now there is a tendency on part of Tamils to hire tamils, telugus to do the same for telugus and the one who bears most of the brunt are Kannadigas. I know many of my kannadiga friends who could not get adequate employment. What is worse is that it is a routine practice of Telugus to fake the CVs and get in and not many kannadigas do this.

This is what ticks of Kannadigas. Maybe, merit would work for developer and higher skill required positions, but since the bulk of IT employment at lower levels, nepotism still reins free in the latter.

Even HD Kumaraswamy claimed that his govt would give infrastructure to those companies who on a transparent basis hire more Kannadigas. This is not difficult at lower and entry level IT positions. Set aside 75% of the jobs for graduates from Karnataka colleges and then see the results.

My only advice to IT companies is that they on a voluntary basis extend this reservation or else it will be forced upon them by the next government. 

s_yajaman's picture

MCadambi - what is the evidence?

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Cadambi,

Some onus lies on you to provide evidence that such nepotism is rampant.  It cannot be based on the experience of a few friends. 

"Maybe, merit would work for developer and higher skill required positions, but since the bulk of IT employment at lower levels, nepotism still reins free in the latter".  What is the lower level that you are talking about here?  Some data will help.

Any company that wants long term success will hire the best that they can afford.  As a recruiter you are taking a risk by hiring substandard people just because they share a language with you.  In most big companies the recruiting process is fairly objective and a candidate goes through at least a couple of leve  ls of interviews before he or she is chosen.

If that candidate fails, you are accountable for your hiring decision.  You cannot assure his success because he might go to a different manager.

Most companies will always prefer to hire locally because the costs are lower.  You don't pay flight tickets, transfer costs, etc. 

Srivathsa

Drive safe.  It is not just the car maker which can recall its product.

City.Zen's picture

Killing the golden goose

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"or else it will be forced upon them by the next government."

That will be unfortunate - not for the companies but for Karnataka and Kannada.

To flourish, every business needs to operate smoothly without too many controls, regulations, etc.

If such things are forced by the government, naturally the companies will migrate to States and countries which offer them more benefits and less worries.

If I may remind, Infosys was originally started in Maharashtra.  It came to Karnataka not out of a love for the home state of the founders but because of the help provided by the then Government of Karnataka.  If the same government, though run by some other party in power, imposes impractical regulations, the companies might have to think of migrating elsewhere.

The Karnataka's jobless aspiring for lower level IT jobs will then have to follow suit.

City Zen

Some more info

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Srivathsa-avare,

http://www.totalkannada.c...

I am not asking IT companies to hire every Kannadiga. But what is requested is that they hire primarily from Karnataka colleges and colleges close to Bangalore. But this should exclude colleges in TN, AP even if they are close to Bengaluru.

It is not possible for me to survey each and every candidate hired by IT companies. But since you see strong protests even by educated Kannadiga engineers in various internet forums, one can easily sense their gruntle against the hiring practices of IT companies.

TCS, reportedly, has it's own accreditation system. Is is too difficult for this company to have on it's register more colleges in Karnataka and hire from those colleges for positions based in KA? 

silkboard's picture

Mysore, Mangalore, and Hubli too

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I think these two cities are only waiting to take some load off Bangalore, sooner it happens, better it will be for the state. Though Mysore/Mangalore residents will go through some growth pains, at the end of the day, jobs and resulting prosperity come first for most. Having seen the urban mess at Bangalore, Mysore/Mangalore will have the advantage of being ready and careful.

But Cadambi's statement about "availabiity of talent" in Hubli (ask IBM) and Mangalore (City.Zen sir's example above - and why infosys has a bigger center in Mysore now than at Mangalore even though it started in Mangalore way way back) is a bit of a blanket call. It depends on what you are looking for. But more important, it is a bit of a chicken and egg problem. You need some brave folks to go first, encouraged by some sops from the government, and then a trend may set in - more colleges will open, more infrastructure will be built, and more companies will setup shop.

City.Zen sir, or Vasanth - would one of you setup a separate thread here to talk about how Hubli/Mysore/Mangalore could help take Bangalore's load and  help the state, and why it hasn't happened in a big way yet (except perhaps in Mysore). Should be a nice and informative discussion.

//You need some brave folks

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//You need some brave folks to go first, encouraged by some sops from the government, and then a trend may set in - more colleges will open, more infrastructure will be built, and more companies will setup shop.//

Sir - the above is the exact thing that I would want IT companies to do for their own good. It will only result in lower salaries and costs for them and in turns improves the economic standing of those areas. IT companies need to look at this from a long term perspective. 

Mysore's opposition

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Mysore does not want IT / High economic growth. People and organisations such as ACICM (Association of Concerned and Informed Citizens of Mysore) and Mysore Grahakara Parishat and host of other senior citizen / pensioner residents do not want Mysore to go the way of Bangalore.

Mangalore and Hubli on the other hand want a lot of investment given their mercantile / commericial cultures. 

s_yajaman's picture

The golden goose has some responsibilities as well

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City.Zen sir,

I personally believe that the IT industry has some responsibilities as well, which IMHO they are not discharging.  This is not against any particular company or person here on this forum.  Just my observations.

a. They need to stop clamouring for subsidised land.  I understand that start-up firms need help in getting office space, etc.  But many of these companies are no longer start up firms.  They make cumulative profits running into several BILLION USD.  To still ask for subsidised land for lavish campuses is not right.

b. A bigger CSR fund.  When the government recently announced that the IT benefits would be removed there was such a hue and cry.  Why pray should companies making 1000s of crores of profit not pay corporate tax?  Why cant they contribute say $100Million into improving education/ public libraries/sponsor more schools like Parikrma?

c. Stop making a virtue out of necessity.  They employ people only because they have to.  They need to stop pretending that they are the corportate form of the Jawahar Rozgar Yojana.  If they could make the same profit by hiring 50% of the people they would do so.  Any company would do so. 

d. A lot of BBMPs money has gone into flyovers and roads because of all the noise these companies have made on slow traffic.  The elevated expressway is a classic example of this.  It serves only E-City.  Now no metro or monorail can come up on that road to serve the general public. 

e. Help local engineering colleges so that their students become employable if that is the reason they don't hire from there. 

Srivathsa

 

Drive safe.  It is not just the car maker which can recall its product.

City.Zen's picture

Why do we have wrong priorities?

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Job reservation is meant to give an opportunity of a livelihood for the underprivileged, for the hapless, for the disabled.  By advocating reservation for Kannadigas are we implying that the once mighty Kannadigas from the land of Bahubali are now reduced to such pitiable conditions?  Are the Kannadigas of today in such dire need of governmental crutches, and the help of corporates?

Instead of demanding such sops, why don't we sit down and think about how to improve ourselves and how to build the skillsets of our people, how to develop our value systems?  Why don't we concentrate our efforts on getting into a commanding position rather than the pathetic demanding one?

Yes, the jobseekers from Hyderabad are notorious for faking their resumes and landing up good jobs  Yes, the Tamils and Malayalees do indulge in excessive favoritism.  Do we want ourselves to fall to their levels? 

Let us be the exception in welcoming and encouraging merit so that we may expose ourselves to the culture of excellence and rub shoulders with the best people so that their excellence rubs off on us too!

By all means, let us certainly have reservations but of the reverse kind - only for the meritorious!

Let us ponder upon how the second Silicon Valley came to evolve in Bangalore!

 

City Zen
shas3n's picture

Mysore and growth

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Thanks for pointing this out mcadambi.

Having spent a third of my life in Mysore, I have very strong ties with the city, almost romantic.

It is true that Mysore is at the top of list of alternative location to Bangalore for IT and other companies to move. But I would prefer to leave Mysore a heritage city as it is/was. To a lot of Mysoreans, Mysore means a lot more than an alternate location for IT companies. See this modern day romantic writing about Mysore. (Original author's blog).

Now, to serve both the needs of de-congesting Bangalore and retaining Mysore's essence, I guess the best way is to build new townships that are designed from scratch for the very purpose. Offer good connectivity, resources and companies would be more than happy to move. May be the NICE's proposed townships are one answer. A few months ago I also watched Sabeer Bhatia's (Hotmail founder) presentation on proposed township (nanocity) which also had a vision of providing all the necessary resources for companies to operate without relying on existing infrastructure much.

 

I am not sure about Hubli-Dharwad as an option. I guess they are the low hanging fruit as far as road/train/air connectivity is concerned but the cities are already strained on their water resources.

-Shastri

-Shastri

City.Zen's picture

Srivathsa - CSR

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CSR is indeed a great concept with tremendous potential.  If only we knew how to harness it properly, we could wrought wonders.

It is not just the money of the corporates that comes into the developmental agenda.  Far more important than the funds, the great brains behind the corporates also have a chance to contribute their valuable inputs.

Your mention of companies not paying corporate tax ( at one time, the mighty Reliance was known as zero-tax company) reminds me of a news item from the days when PC, during his first tenure as FM had introduced Minimum Alternate Tax for the companies which like Reliance were zero tax companies so as to bring all companies into the tax net.

Narayanamurthy's was the only voice which welcomed this MAT, even his fellow directors at his company differed with him.

City Zen

LPO, KPO and other industries

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Shasti-avare,

I keep visiting mysore every month since my cousins live in Jayalakshmipuram there. One can almost feel the feelings of the people of Mysore who shudder at the thought of Mysore becoming another Bengaluru! I keep reading the grievances of citizens of Nirmala  Mysooru in 'Star of Mysore', which i read everyday these days.

Nevertheless, any society needs economic growth. Tourism, Education, Yoga economy and pensioners largely account for the economy of Mysore these days. However, we also can have small scale IT establishments like SPI (Software Paradigms International) - a product of Mysore, Infosys and Wipro Training Centres which can augment the economic potential of the city.

There is a budding Law Process Outsourcing industry which took some root in Mysore. There is a firm called 'SDD Pvt Ltd', pioneered by an American national who came do do Yoga in Mysore. See this: http://www.sddglobal.com/

We also iRobot, which has it's R&D establishment in Mysore. Ref: http://www.thehindu.com/2...

Hence, having some KPO, LPO, R&D is good over all for Mysore. Any society with retirees need as much proportional workers to gain from the former's investment in insurance funds / annuity funds / retirement funds etc. Retirees also need young doctors, nurses, radiologists, live-in care givers, physiotherapists etc.

BMIC will give incentives to IT engineers who hail from Mysore and go to Bangalore to work. But still, even if taking BMIC road everyday, it will cost appx Rs. 5000 pm for fuel costs, exculding EMI for car loans. So only a limited number of people have the affordability to travel everyday between Mysore and Bangalore when the BMIC corridor is complete. 

murali772's picture

golden goose is doing its bit

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Yajamanre'

It's the governments which are vying with each other offering all kinds of incentives to the IT industry to move in to their respective states. Obviously, these governments see more benefits than there are costs. And, after all, the IT industry is also an industry, and if it helps their bottomlines, they will accept the incentives.

Yes - the Central IT concessions perhaps need to be discontinued. Many IT industry captains themselves hold this view. But, perhaps the finance minister has his own cost-benefit analysis.

The IT industry has attempted to do make its contributions. The BATF, F-bas accounting system for BBMP, etc were all pioneered by them. That they were not put to proper use by the government, is not their fault. Also, if NRN wasn't summarily removed from the Chairmanship of BIAL, perhaps we wouldn't have been in the present mess. Further, if BMIC had become operational, perhaps many of them would have relocated along its various centres.

Muralidhar Rao

Muralidhar Rao
Mithun's picture

Mysore's potential

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ACICM and MGP do not represent the Mysore city or its administration. They have actually been fighting against Chamalapura project only (I agree that Chamalapura project can support heavy industrialization). I have not read anything mentioning direct opposition to economic growth in Mysore. ACICM and MGP have also worked for constructive activities related to city problems. As a matter of fact, many senior citizens and pensioners in Bangalore also would not like the way it has rapidly grown. It is a phenomenon in all cities. Some more facts: The huge land identified in Karnataka for Fabcity project was at the outskirts of Mysore, which went to Hyderabad. Some SEZs have been approved to be developed in Mysore - I forgot the numbers. The capacity of Infosys -Mysore at 5000 as mentioned by Citi.zen is a small fraction of planned capacity. I would say that Mysore is still waiting for that 'cluster effect' to happen. Some connectivity drawbacks need to be fixed. Public transportation needs to improve. It will take a few years.
City.Zen's picture

Murali772

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"Also, if NRN wasn't summarily removed from the Chairmanship of BIAL, perhaps we wouldn't have been in the present mess. Further, if BMIC had become operational, perhaps many of them would have relocated along its various centres."

Very very valid points.  The cause for both NRN resigning from BIAL ( please note, he was not summarily removed) and BMIC still not being operational is quite well known to everybody.  Shortly, we will come to know if the people behind these causes will bite the dust that they deserve or will get reelected.  Let us hope for the wisdom of the crowds.

City Zen
s_yajaman's picture

Murali sir - and there was no lobbying?

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"Many IT industry captains themselves hold this view. But, perhaps the finance minister has his own cost-benefit analysis".

If many industry captains hold the view that they should pay corporate tax, this article from Forbes certainly does not seem to suggest that

http://www.forbes.com/markets/feeds/afx/2008/04/29/afx4946264.html

The latest lobbying for HAL Airport to remain open and hijacking the word "public interest" is another example of how many of them think their interests are Bangalore's interests.

One small step they can take is to tell their taxi drivers and employees to respect road rules.  Their employees (I am not saying that all of them behave badly on the roads) probably own 50% of all cars in Bangalore. 

Srivathsa

Drive safe.  It is not just the car maker which can recall its product.

Fabcity was opposed

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Fabcity was opposed by the organised action of ACICM, MGP and a host of other organisations. Even MGP has come out against building apartments on former CITB (City Improvement Trust Board), i.e predecessor to MUDA sites.

One of my relatives was instrumental in getting a stay order issued against an illegal mall that was supposed to come up next to BM Hospital. 

murali772's picture

lobbies & mafias

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Yajamaanre', I concede. Most businesses unfortunately are nothing but mafia's, the difference being that they play the game according to the rules, generally. And, when the rules do not suit them, they will resort to lobbying, which after all is legitimate activity.

But, the even bigger mafia very often tends to be the government of the day.

And, that's where PRAJA comes in, to provide the essential balance. So, let's play our role in that spirit.

Muralidhar Rao

Muralidhar Rao
City.Zen's picture

Shifting Bangalore's Burden To Other Cities

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City Zen
zach's picture

Reservations?

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No issues in giving 30% reservations to Kannadigas, then another 30% to SC/STs and then lets give 20% to women, 10% to handicapped people and the rest 10% to those who have studid hard, worked hard and meet the requirement.

The problem with reservations is that is it can allow people undeserving to get an easy way inwithout having earned it. We may end up having a workforce that got their jobs not because of their hardwork, their skill or their smarts but because of their caste, creed, regionality. Is this what we want in the end?

It is not right to recruit people just because they come from one's own community/religion, in the end the skill, the ability the person matters in a job. That must be given greater precedence. Fine if you want to give 30% reservation to Kannadigas go ahead, just make sure they deserve the job base don their skills- not on where they are from.

murali772's picture

karma capitalism

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Having said what I did about 'most' businesses, I wish to add that a new concept called 'Karma Capitalism' (about which I read in brief, sometime back) is evolving, being propounded by some leading Indian Corporates. It talks of a more egaliterian approach. May be that holds the answer. 

Muralidhar Rao

Muralidhar Rao
pradeep's picture

The regional biasing is too

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The regional biasing is too much in our Bangalore's top 5 big IT companies and its soo much its clearly visible. I agree to shobha koppad's living in "fool paradise" words. I feel kannadigas are too kind hearted and have great patience.

I wish Govt should stop allowing the IT companies in Mysore and making it as a mess like bangalore, too much inflow of ppl from other states creates havoc. Mysore should be left as a heritage city. Consider developing other places in Karnataka and make them a better place to live. In another 5 years bangalore will be a messed up and it will loose its charm what we used to witness as before. For example if all the outsiders are sent back to their hometown , the population of bangalore is dropped considerably low and less traffic , pollution and it will regain peace.

Regards,

Pradeep

“An act of charity by the citizens questions the worthiness of the government.” 

Vasanth's picture

Tumkur as parallel city to Bangalore

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I was always thinking why Infosys was started at EC in between Bangalore and Hosur rather starting at somewhere near Hesargatta or so making Tumkur as parallel city to Bangalore. Electronic City would have come up there and people would have opted to live in Tumkur and might have travelled from there.

 

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