CAN WE PLEASE OUTSOURCE OBAMA TO INDIA?
By Ruma Dubey
What a fantastic and highly inspiring victory speech by the 44th President of USA, Barrack Obama! He did what he does the best and the whole world applauded.
Obama is truly ‘neighbours envy, owners pride’. We in India can see and hear him with only envy as it will be a mere dream to have someone like Obama lead our country. Do we have one leader in India today who can talk and then walk the talk like Obama? Yes, he has a lot to achieve but he took over the reins of a country when it was at its worst and today, the economy seems set to rebound. Employment is slowly gaining and the growth numbers are not too bad. There is a long, arduous road ahead, which will also lead to the ‘fiscal cliff’ and it would be interesting four years to see America maneuvering its way.
Looking at the way in which the US election was covered by the Indian media, one would have thought it was our election and not of USA. There was live coverage on every news channel and every front page of the newspapers carried news of the election. One can say, “what’s the big deal?” and rave and rant about giving so much coverage to an election which, directly, means nothing to us. That’s true but whether we like it or not, America is one of the largest economies of the world and what happens there, matters to the this whole new, flat world.
Actually, the news on the elections was a welcome reprieve from all the muck which our newspapers and TV channels usually carry. It was a story of great hope and aspiration. In India, there is immense faith in our democracy but little faith in the leaders whom we are forced to elect. The saga of our politics is endless and for now, at least for today, it would be good to see how having Obama leading USA for another four years will impact India.
The good part about having Obama back is that there will be continuity in the various policy decisions. He shares a great rapport with India and his visit, with his wife, Michelle, to India, more than conveyed that. There is no adverse impact as such seen from his re-election just as there will not be any major advantage. The direct impact, for now, is that the rupee vis-à-vis the US dollar, which had depreciated sharply for the past two weeks, is back to gaining ground. The factor of ‘uncertainty’ is gone and there is no rush for ‘safer havens’ from the US dollar any more.
Outsourcing will remain a concern for the Indian BPO sector. It might not be mere election rhetoric as there is pressure to bring back employment to USA. But at the same time, Obama believes in free trade and thus expecting him to impose any stiff restrictions seems unlikely. Obama’s huge anti-outsourcing ads, many believe helped him win in many states. But will that get translated into reality?
Maybe not as most in America, associate outsourcing with manufacturing jobs going to China. Another moot point to be noted is that when some Indian companies tried to hire locals for the job, most failed even the qualification tests. Thus, as Obama rightly stated, the education system in USA needs some work. Outsourcing in India is no longer cheap in fact cheaper jobs are done by Vietnam and Philippines. We might lose outsourcing jobs to these countries but software, which remains India’s plus point, would be hard to be replaced, neither in USA nor in these cheaper SE Asian countries. Many companies from USA are coming here not merely for saving costs but because they are unable to find the right candidates in US.
Yes, it is a great victory and for now, let us enjoy the fact that ‘blue’ won over the ‘red’. We can get back to Indian politics again, new scams and same old corrupt politicians. And is Kejriwal going to expose a new scam today, after all, it is Wednesday!