US Elections, Trump Regime and Talent Mobility….

It’s finally out!! Donald Trump is officially set to become the 45^th US President of the world’s oldest democracy . Well, 58th US quadrennial elections seemed worst nightmare for majority of the IT industries – esp. in India. The information technology (IT) sector is in focus with President-elect Donald Trump at the helm in the US and the fear that the US immigration policies are going to get a lot stricter. His stand on trade policies had been ‘hawkish’ to some extent which has set precedence on immigration models across the industry eventually affecting Talent Management & Mobility especially in IT Sector.

Source: Google images

Immigration has been the key issue during elections in the US. The coveted H-1B visa program is expected to become more protectionist as President-elect Trump promised during his election campaigns. This will affect Indian IT companies as they will be able to send only a lower number of professionals to the US to assist their clients in the country.

Post elections, it has been witnessed that few IT majors are looking to step up hiring in the US – especially fresh graduates from the campuses of top American educational institutions, even though despite of the significant talent gap still existing in the States. Well, the impact of US Elections on Business Immigration seems quite unclear as of now. However, Immigration is expected to be a key issue in the upcoming fiscal year in Donald Trump's administration. He has shown some support for skilled immigration, however he has also called for more investigation for foreign nationals entering the United States. It is anticipated that curbs on foreign worker admissions and there would be close monitoring & obligations on employers of foreign workers.

Though the Mr. Trump has not made any specific proposals, but has indicated that he would seek reform on the renowned H1B CAP, may renegotiate key trade agreements – many of which contains the provisions to streamline immigration between the member countries. Thus, it becomes very important for the organizations to plan talent management & mobility diligently and decisively. 

Though, India as a nation is not completely dependent upon US for economical / commercial benefits – however, immediate reforms may prove to be unexpected hiccup and disrupt business models for a while. Instability &n uncertainty is a part of a business – but we should also remember that "In every period of upheaval, there are opportunities for progress!". 

PS: Views expressed are personal

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Making the Aadhar Nir- Aadhar...

After a messed up three-year process and running through Rs 11,000 crore, the great discovery of a unique identity number for each Indian may get scrapped now.  The newly elected government is planning to scrap it. Though the concept of Aadhaar card, of providing the lower strata of Indians with an identity card that could be linked to their bank accounts so that the benefits marked to them did not get lost in bureaucratic hurdles or get siphoned off by middlemen, was really ideal and great but, as of today,  in my point of view, Modi Sarkaar’s move to scarp it should be welcomed. 

Right from the beginning of the project, it had been always criticized by BJP and other activists, but the architect of the Aadhaar, Nandan Nilekani, who is now a Congress politician, as well as the UPA government, brandished the cost-benefit analysis of the card. The future of Aadhaar project was never bright but the Congress government kept on pushing the same despite various constitutional and legal infirmities.

Indian economy is facing inflation and sluggishness since long time and in such a scenario, wasting even a single penny on projects like Aadhar will be foolishness! The cost of building Aadhaar and integrating it with the government schemes was estimated around 35000 crores by UPA – II government. The government is already said to have spent around Rs 11,000 crores on the project and over 70 crore Aadhaar numbers have been issued. A poor country like India should not waste an expenditure or effort on this scale, especially at this late stage.

Apart from this, there can be chances of Aadhaar as invading a person’s privacy by taking their biometrics data. The critics of the Aadhaar has always mentioned that the agency engaged in the process, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), might share the  biometric information of people with other government agencies thereby violating people’s right to privacy. They also thought that using the biometric data, people might be singled out, tracked, harassed and have their rights violated.

Also, Aadhar has no legal statute. The Constitutional Validity of Aadhaar Project has already been questioned in the High Courts and Supreme Court of India. The Supreme Court has even held that Aadhaar Card/Number cannot be made mandatory for availing public services in India. Though, today it is accepted by RBI, SEBI, Railways, Telecom & IT departments, etc.  as a proof of identity or for the KYC process, but as per the Supreme court’s judgement, the entire legal basis of the card stands vulnerable.

In these circumstances continuance of Aadhaar project would be a big mistake. The Modi Government’s move seems to be ideal and hence, if it takes a decision of scrapping the project, it should be welcomed. 

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How will history remember Manmohan Singh???

In the past couple of weeks the new government has taken over the country and everybody is hoping for a bright future of the nation, expecting reforms friendly for the nation and its development.  The new PM is all set with his plans for the next 100 days and thereafter. Amidst all these, the Ex-PM of India for past 10 years, Dr. Manmohan Singh walks into sunset with little fusses and noise.

The frustrated congressmen are blaming him and the leader (RaGa) of congress party for their failure in communicating the UPA government’s achievement to the people. Indeed, the man’s humility is remarkable, as at the last meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), Manmohan took the responsibility for the government’s failure shielding the mother son duo in the congress party making them to lead the party.

History has assessed many PM’s. While others have been forgotten, some (Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, P.V. Narsimha Rao, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, etc.) had left a large footprint on the nation. How will history remember Manmohan? Will he be remembered as the architect of economic reforms that began in 1991 or as a robot working on the signals getting from 10 Janpath, the residence of Sonia and seat of actual power?

The man, who hails a degree from Cambridge and Oxford, had worked with United Nations, then acted as an advisor in the Ministry of Foreign Trade, then Singh held several key posts in the Government of India, such as Chief Economic Advisor (1972–76), Reserve Bank governor (1982–85) and Planning Commission head (1985–87). In 1991, as India faced a severe economic crisis, newly elected Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao surprisingly inducted the apolitical Singh into his cabinet as Finance Minister. Over the next few years, despite strong opposition, he as a Finance Minister carried out several structural reforms that liberalised India's economy. These measures proved successful in averting the crisis, and enhanced Singh's reputation globally as a leading reform-minded economist.

After UPA’s win in 2004, the first term of Manmohan Singh as a PM had fine moments – Enactment of RTI, INDO-US Nuclear deal, strong economic growth, Rural health Mission, Unique Identification Authority, Rural Employment Guarantee scheme, etc had boosted again the nation’s confidence on Congress and Manmohan.

But during UPA-II, the Manmohan (or Sonia) government failed on few important fronts. The GDP growth, consumer price inflation and the the new rules for FDI in multi-brand retail were so loaded with cumbersome clauses that they have not yielded much investment. Singh started with two years of 8.5% growth and ended with two years of 4.5% growth.  Apart from these, Singh's "UPA II" government faced a number of corruption charges—over the organisation of the Commonwealth Games, the 2G-spectrum allocation and the allocation of coal blocks. This made the nation to vote against him and as thinking of him as a person with a paralysis of decision making.

Well, people are ultimately judged not by their failures but for their career achievements. Manmohan will be remembered as a decent and hardworking man, who had saved India when the Nation was in dire need of Economic reforms and stability. He may be remembered as a man who had tried to work hard for the Nation’s benefit without the greed for chair. 

 

Sources: Wikipedia, Swaminomics, Business India

Prateek Aloni

http://about.me/prateek.aloni

'NaMo Namah': Will 'Ache Din' truely come???

Finally the 16th dance of democracy came to an end creating a landmark in India’s political history. In a record turnout India has given a clear majority not just to one party, but to one man – ‘Narendra Modi’. The Hindu Nationalist is all set to become India’s 16^th Prime Minister and  govern India.

For this election, Modi cut loose from the traditional Delhi-based structure of his Bharatiya Janata Party and its apparatchiks and adopted the language of a youthful country eager for change, using everything from holograms to WhatsApp.

The modern approach worked: just an hour into the counting of votes on Friday, it was clear that the 63-year-old BJP maestro and RSS propagandist was heading for a stunning victory with the strongest mandate any Indian government has enjoyed for 30 years.

But,What next now? People have so many expectations from Mr. Modi. The reaction received from people after BJP’s win was so overwhelming and to some extent, I found it weird. People acted like, Modi has won and all problems will come to an end in just couple of weeks.

I have always loved a famous dialogue from the movie ‘Spiderman’- “With great power comes great responsibility!!”  Mr. Modi alias the “SuperNaMo” has to prove his mettle and should take care of the things which he had promised. He has to fulfill all those promises he has made so far. The onus is on 
Modi to 'modi'fy India.

Modi has to work on many important agendas. Right from working on making India more independent and to make economy more stable by boosting the infrastructure to creation of employment and attracting Investments in India. He has to fix the corruption issues in the country too. Modi should also look forward to win over the caste remarks. This can probably help him to get more cooperation and support. He has to work on the issues of national interest and fix it so that he can fulfill people’s expectations up to the mark. With good governance, development, bold policies, inclusive growth and by formulation of Industry friendly strategies, Modi should bring the country back on a high growth trajectory and make India an easier place to do business in.

If Modi gets succeeded in solving the problems of the nation and win people’s confidence by 'Modi'fying India, he’ll be one of the best PM for whom the Nation was waiting since long time. Well, time will show us whether the Tsu’NaMo’ wave flying from Gujarat to whole India will be able to create the replica of the famous ‘Gujarat Model’ of development all over the Nation or not.

Till then, Just wait and watch & hope for the best!!! 

- Prateek Aloni

http://about.me/prateek.aloni

AK-49: AAP's 49 days of governance

Emerging as a mascot of an alternative brand of politics, the 45-year-old engineer-turned-civil servant changed the political discourse with a stunning showing of his fledgling Aam Aadmi Party(AAP) in the December Assembly polls that brought Congress' 15- year rule to an end.

 

 But he courted controversy within weeks by sitting on a dharna in the heart of Delhi near Parliament House during the tense face off with the Centre last month over his demand for suspending three police officers for allegedly not acting against criminals.

He had also come under attack on the governance agenda. Leading from the front, Kejriwal had earlier anchored his campaign in an unconventional way to see it emerge as the second largest party in Delhi with 28 seats. AAP formed the government on December 28 with outside support from Congress.

And today the curtains came down on Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Delhi after it failed to table the Jan Lokpal Bill in the Assembly, ending 49 days of rule. The following are the achievements of the short-lived government:
- Free supply of 667 litres of water daily for households with metered connections.
- Fifty per cent subsidy in electricity bills for households which consume up to 400 units of power a month.
- No red or blue beacons on official cars, bringing an end to 'VIP culture'
- All government schools surveyed for infrastructure deficiency and given Rs.1 lakh each for immediate repairs.
- Some 24,000 people exempted from paying 50 percent of their power bills during the period they took part in an AAP campaign against inflated electricity bills.
- Launched anti-corruption and nursery admission helplines.
- New permits given to 5,500 autos.
- Registered first information reports (FIR) against former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit in irregularities in the preparations for the 2010 Commonwealth Games and Petroleum Minister Veerappa Moily, former minister Murli Deora and Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani for
allegedly colluding to inflate natural gas prices and raising power bills.
- Ordered audit of Delhi's three power distribution companies.

Finally, it was the opposition not allowing the tabling of the Jan Lokpal Bill, one of the AAP's major poll promises, in the Delhi Assembly that led to Kejriwal quitting the position.

Arvind Kejriwal , who pledged to root out corruption after steering AAP to power in Delhi, was a man in a hurry and set a scorching pace to try to fulfil his anti-graft legislative agenda but his tumultous journey as Chief Minister ended in seven weeks.

Sources: India today, TOI, Indian Express

Brain drain: Boon for developed countries, Bane for India…

I was just going through my facebook wall and I came across an image shared by my friend. The image was, Barack Obama laughing and a caption was inserted over the image as - “Come on India! Increase your reservation & quotas. Your drain, our gain!”

Well, though, the image was meant for fun, but was speaking of the truth and suggesting a wake up call… It’s a time to reality check!!!

In the recent years, the cut-offs for admissions became close to 100% in the best Indian universities. While the institutes are in the race of getting the best students in the country, the ambitious youth who fail to meet the “irrational” demands had to compromise on their dream of occupying a seat in any of the prestigious Indian universities. This leads them to explore the scope of higher education abroad.

A recent study conducted by Indian Institute of Management- Bangalore (IIM-B) shows that the students going for higher studies abroad has increased by 256% in the last 10 years. When 53,000 Indian students went abroad for higher studies in 2000, the figure shot up to 1.9 lakh in 2010.

The increasing trend of brain drain of the skilled workers finally persuaded the government to take action. After witnessing a huge brain drain of doctors (among the 3,000 medical students went abroad in last three years, none returned), the health ministry has suspended issuing “no obligation to return certificates” to the medical students going abroad for higher studies.

Nowadays, the medical students going to the US for higher studies will have to sign a bond with the government, promising to return to India after completing his / her studies. If the student doesn’t fulfill the bond obligation, the ministry can write to the US and the permission for the student to practice in the country will be denied.

With better economic policies, with better facilities by industries and government promoting entrepreneurship, research friendly atmosphere, Industry – academy collaborations and the human capital to execute them, there is still hope for India. If proper measures are taken at a pacer rate, India can be saved!!! 

- Prateek Aloni

http://about.me/prateek.aloni