Nasscom to have single database for 1.6m IT employees
H.S. Rao

NASSCOM, the chamber of commerce and 'voice' of the IT software and services industry in India, plans to have, within three years, a single database National Security Registry for the 1.6 million people directly employed in the industry.

Describing it as unique biometric identification database, NASSCOM Vice-President Ameet Nivsarkar said in a recent interview that it (data-base) would ensure total security of the data.

It would also help background verification of any employee in the case of change of job or complaints of thefts of any data, which are very rare.

"We already have 1,20,000 names on the database and another half a million will be added this year and an equal number next year," he said, adding it was the first time in the world such an industry-specific database has been created.

Nivsarkar noted that India has one of the best data-protection record.

"Our job is to ensure India is perceived as a secure destination. Our slogan is keep your money in Switzerland but keep the data in India," he observed.

Answering a question on availability of talent in India, he said, "the talent availability is huge. On an average 3.1 million graduates passes out from universities every year in India.

"But the question is suitability of the talent. 20 per cent of the graduates are suitable to absorb directly. The gap between the academic institutions and the industry needs has to be reduced."

He said India continued to be the favourite destination for outsourcing and it has a lion's share of the overall global outsourcing.

"India offers a unique combination of attributes that have established it as the preferred offshore destination for IT-BPO, abundant talent pool being the key one.

"From India's young demographic profile, to its vast network of academic infrastructure that churns out 3.1 million graduates annually, to its English-speaking workforce, the country offers an unmatched mix of human-power benefits to organisations," Nivsarkar said.

Over the last few years, he said NASSCOM created a major workforce development platform and launched several initiative, in partnership with the Government and academia that aim to bring positive changes to the Indian education system and its orientation towards building employable students. — PTI