Friday, November 5, 2010

Obama's India Visit

Why should Corporate India plead with Obama to consider encouraging American companies to outsource to India ? After all Obama is doing what he thinks is right to protect American interests.

The Americans were the first to advocate a free-market mindset as a matter of state policy. Even then, they advocated this policy because they thought Americans stood to benefit; not because they had Indian interests in mind. Then, it was below the dignity of many Americans to take up jobs like data entry and back office processing and thought they were best outsourced to developing markets. This policy has now turned round and has started to bite them. Now suddenly it is no longer just jobs at the lower end of the spectrum that have begun to flow out of America. Americans are becoming concerned - and justifiably so, if you ask me.

So what is more natural than politicians beginning to take the cause up, with an eye on votes ? Politicians will be politicians - whether in India or America

So, Narayan Murthy was right. It is about time the pampered Indian software and BPO industries (think SEZs, tax holidays etc) woke up to the reality and started behaving in a more matured way, as befits them. They have no birthright on getting American contracts. They need to work for it, just like anybody else.
In the end, as anywhere else, the fittest will survive.

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