BPOs recruit rural youth trained by NGOs

Experts say that the benefits of such a tie-up include a lower attrition rate, besides being a part of corporate social responsibility of companies.

Sanvi Aanwar, a resident of Veeratpur village in Punjab, was able to earn Rs 6,000 a month with incentives, after she was employed by Tata group's E2E SerWiz Solutions Limited in Mohali.

Enrolling in NGO Tarahaat's, training programme enabled the young girl along with two friends from her village to gain employment to sustain their families. NGOs such as Tarahaat are now taking up initiatives to provide training programmes in rural areas to provide rural youth with a better chance to be employable in call centres.

The NGO charges a fee of about Rs 600 to Rs 900 per month, The duration of the course is usually 3 months, but can go up to a year.

The NGOs teach English by the use of which the youth are able to provide voice-based services in BPOs. Tarahaat also provides training in various backoffice works.

Differentiating between their work and those of the rural BPOs, Rakesh Khanna, member Tarahaat, said "We train the rural youth for employment in the BPOs, we do not set up BPOs."

The NGO hopes that over the next three months about a hundred students enrolled in the programme will be employed by E2E SerWiz Solutions.

This method of recruitment has captured the imagination of many mid-size BPOs. Anupam Mehra, vice-president, human resources of Teletech BPO says, "It is certainly a good option which we would like to explore. We are negotiating with Tarahaat to look into the viability of this option and how we can make use of method of recruitment."

In another pilot project, Delhi-based BPO, Intouch Solutions, has collaborated with NGOs like Plan and Prospect Education to train youth. Twelve youth from the resettlement colonies of Badarpur and Sangam Vihar are beneficiaries of this programme.

Says Ritti Jarg, CEO, Intouch Solutions: "We alongwith Plan identified the required talent and collaborated with Prospect Education to provide them the required training to work in our organisation."

Says Samir Chopra, president, Business Process Industry Association of India: "The outsourcing companies are still not too receptive of the programmes, however they have to understand that such methods of recruitment are not only a part of corporate social responsibility but also of immense value to them in terms of man power."

Pointing out that such activities help curb attrition he said that people from less fortunate homes tend to have a greater sense of loyalty and are less prone to contribute to the high rates of attrition.

Chopra, who owns CybizCall International Pvt Ltd, has also recruited five people from the Tarahaat programme, who were trained to handle finance and accounts.

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