WFH: IT industry sees PM Modi’s initiative as ‘game changer’
Bangalore: IT and BPO industry leaders in India praised the government’s decision to relax the guidelines to allow IT and BPO companies to embrace permanent work from home / work from anywhere, calling it a game changer that could create millions of jobs in small towns and cities.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on Thursday a series of measures aimed at promoting “ease of doing business” and making India a technology hub. In line with this, the government simplified the guidelines for other service providers or OSPs from the Department of Telecommunications, a move that would reduce the compliance burdens of the IT and BPO industry.
In response to this, the software body Nasscom, president of ET NOW, “This is one of those times that will change the rules of the game, will be a strategic turning point for the industry and will significantly increase the competitive advantage of India. It will boost the India’s position as a strategic IT hub for the world, which will generate more investment. It will benefit companies across the board, anyone who has to use the company network to telecommute, IT services, BPO, multinational companies “.
Wipro Chairman Rishad Premji said: “This is truly progressive and long-term thinking from the Government that will make our tech industry much more competitive. Working from anywhere has become the new reality and thank you for watching.” .
At the same time, Tech Mahindra CEO CP Gurnani called it a much-needed overhaul for the IT industry.
WNS CEO Keshav Murugesh said this would catapult Indian IT and BPM to the next level of growth and lead to job creation and the development of small towns and cities in Tier 3 and 4 locations. Genpact CEO Tiger Tyagarajan said that the focus on making India a technology hub is incredibly timely and will benefit the country.
While the government had previously relaxed the work-from-home guidelines until the end of the year, the new ones will greatly reduce the compliance burden on the BPM industry. The registration requirement for OSPs has been completely removed. The BPM industry dedicated to data-related work has taken itself completely out of the scope of defining an OSP. In addition, requirements such as the deposit of bank guarantees, frequent reporting obligations, criminal provisions, among others, have also been eliminated.
The IT and BPM sector is the largest driver of job creation in the private sector in India. According to Nasscom data, the technology industry in India during fiscal year 2009-fiscal year 2019 has added USD 105 billion in revenue and more than 2 million employees. Today, female employees represent more than 35 percent (1.4 million) of the total employee base in the industry.
