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It was the stuff that horror stories are made ofa young girl, obviously excited at going to work for what was supposed to be her last day at her BPO job, gets into a car oblivious of the fact that the driver has alcohol on his breath and is accompanied by another drunken man she has never seen before. She forgets that if she is to be picked up before a male colleague is in the car, there is a help desk number which she should call. She gets on the phone immediately and just is completely oblivious of the fact that the car is veering off the route to her center. Only when she realizes that they are in a little hamlet, does she protest and ask where she has been brought, her voice picked up through her phone in what was to be the last instance anyone ever heard the voice of the unfortunate young girl, cut off in the prime of her life by a rapist and murderer.

The tragedy had already begun to sink into all of us in the normally peaceful city of Pune when the sensation hungry press chose to put the blame on the company, even insinuating that the driver was a serial criminal whose record had not been checked by the company. As it turned out, the previous crimes were some petty robberies for which he had never been booked and the company in question had apparently done over 40 mn pickups without having a single prior incident of this naturea statistic that is even better than the six sigma quality record that most knowledge firms aspire for in this industry. And, while there is no statistic that can take away the pain from the heinous nature of this unfortunate incident, surely we need to be a little more balanced in our analysis of such situations!

Nasscom was the first to jump in and call for a meeting of all the BPO firms operating in Pune. In a well attended meeting a number of best practices, habitually practiced by all significant firms, including driver verification, pickup and drop practices and speed dial codes to company hot lines were compared. A number of areas have been identified where the industry can come together to work with the local administration and the police. Thorough security clearance of all drivers employed in the industry with help of the local police, the check for roadworthiness of all vehicles, and the insistence on speed limits as well as abstinence from alcohol should be a precondition.

It is indeed unfortunate that the BPO industry which has had one of the most spectacular track records of global success in the history of this country and will soon employ more professionals than even its older brethren in the IT services industry, should have so many hurdles. First, it was the diving dollar and the Damocles sword of withdrawal of STPI tax benefits both of which could spell disaster for young BPOs who have never enjoyed the significant profit margins of the larger IT folk. Then, information security issues that have always come in the way of outsourcing mission-critical processes. And, now, the potential negative sentiment towards an industry which has given so many young people the right to dream of a better lifestyle.

The solution clearly lies in a concerted awareness campaign among the firms and the providers and subcontractors to the firms, and more importantly, lakhs of young people, male and female, who throng portals of the BPO centers every evening. Running a company where thousands of our associates are less than twenty some years of age, I have always reveled in the energy and enthusiasm of these young constituents of our industry. It is our duty to advise and encourage them to care for their safety so that the industry continues to offer equal opportunity to all to realize their dreams!

The author is deputy chairman & MD of Zensar Technologies and an Executive Council member of NASSCOM for 2007-09.
He can be reached at ganesh@cybermedia.co.in

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