NASSCOM Upset At Private Snoops On IT Workers
18-12-08, C Chitti Pantulu, Bangalore
DNA
Hiring of private agencies by BPO and IT companies to carry out background checks on their employees in the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks has not gone down well with the apex industry body Nasscom.
Calling the move unnecessary, NASSCOM chairman Ganesh Natarajan said the National Skills Registry (NSR) maintained by it could be effectively used for the purpose with sufficient upgrades. DNA had reported on Wednesday that BPO and IT companies, among others, were hiring private detectives and security agencies to verify the antecedents of their employees.
"I don't think employing private groups to carry out background checks is required," Natarajan told DNA. The NSR, though meant for weeding out resumé cheats, is 90% foolproof and can be effectively used for this purpose, he said.
Though set up in December 2005, only 3.5 lakh of the roughly 20 lakh IT professionals have registered on the NSR.
It costs companies Rs 3,000 to get one employee registered on the NSR.
According to R Karthik Shekhar, founder of the Union for ITITES (Unites), said ITITES companies were reluctant to use the NSR. "But I don't see any reason why they should not use it for background checks," he said.
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