A joint meeting of Gurgaon Police, Business Process Industry Association of India, an affiliated association of Confederation of Indian Industry with the senior Government Officials, Haryana was presided today to discuss the security issues in Gurgaon.

  The meeting was held under the shadow of issues around the law & order system, driver licensing, night patrolling and other issues of common interest.

  Speaking at the session Mr. Samir Chopra, President, BPIAI highlighted the contribution done by the IT and ITES industry towards the development of Gurgaon. . He also mentioned that the Administration of Gurgaon and support of the Industry would help in further strengthening the infrastructure and growth of the city.

  Talking about the challenges he mentioned about abrupt rise of the rupee against the dollar and pound have left many young BPO firms gasping for breath. Tax sops from the Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) will also disappear for these companies and this might make investors avoid India and instead invest in other offshore locations like China, Sri Lanka and Philippines. And this is why most believe, that the government stands to lose more in terms of indirect taxes than it will gain from taking away the tax breaks, he further added. The IT sector has enjoyed tax breaks for over 30 years whether the BPO / Call Centers / ITES industry being 5 years old has had very little time to benefit from this and about 2.5 lakh people work with BPOs in Gurgaon though the BPOs has the highest density of workforce providing employment to 3 lacs of youth only in Gurgaon thereby providing US 30 $ export opportunity to India. According to Mr. Chopra steps must be initiated to decouple the IT from the ITES sector.

  According to Mr Ashok Tyagi, Senior Vice President, Enabling Service, Genpact the meeting was held to take stock of the law and order situation and prepare a blueprint of the administrative action to deal with the challenges thrown by city. Mr. Tyagi also complemented the Commissioner of Police for the commendable efforts towards strengthening the law & order system. To further facilitate the above, he agreed upon contributing training for Policemen and modernizing of the entire Police control room.

  The DGP, Haryana, Mr. Ranjiv Singh Dalal said that Haryana Police with the cooperation of people have successfully faced the challenges posed by the city. In order to provide fair, impartial and accountable police administration Haryana Police has moved ahead in the field of information Technology, he added. For modernization of the Haryana Police, the State Government has sanctioned different types of equipments and grants during the current financial year. For Housing and other infrastructure facilities to the Policemen, the State Government has accorded a hefty amount, he stated. The DGP also puts on record the role of BPOs towards the Development of Gurgaon. He also talked about increasing the Policemen by 1000 by April 2008.

  The interaction between the DGP and the industry members discussed various issues like check on rash cab driving and over speeding, pre-employment screening of transport drivers and contractors, pre-employment screening of all cab drivers by police and the transporter, sharing information on the black- listed cab drivers. Both civil and police, were strongly in favour of sharpening the administrative focus on pro-active and preventive measures to deal with the law and order situation.

Close on the heels of the gruesome incidents of call center employees, the representatives of the BPO Industry has today launched BPIAI round-the-clock hotline wireless network and security patrol cabs (10 Nos) in the national capital region for ensuring staff safety, particularly women which was inaugurated by the DGP, Haryana – Mr. Ranjiv Singh Dalal. The Commissioner also agreed to provide one beat constable for each cab and ensured the proper management of the same.

  The security patrol vehicles will keep check on cab movements and will carry the contact numbers of all Police stations , hospitals and ambulance services.The launch of 24X7 hotline network among BPOs with the local police could also procure alternate route maps for cabs wanting to avoid traffic jams. The Partnership between the Police and the industry would help mange the travelling time of rushing cabs.

The session also put forward suggestions towards improvising future plans to improve on these issues, which have a significant impact on improving the business environment in Gurgaon in particular and in Haryana in general. A follow up meeting will be done by the Business Process Industry Association of India to keep a tab on the future course of action.

25^th January 2008

Gurgaon