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Saturday, May 02, 2009
Nasscom to coax techies to do social work
Publication: The Times of India, Edition: Chennai, Journalist: Mini Joseph Tejaswi, Page No: 15, Location: Bottom-Center, Width(cms): 21, Height(cms): 9
, Size(sq.cms): 189
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Nasscom to coax techies to do social work
Mini Joseph Tejaswi | tnn
Bangalore: In a move that can be seen as killing two birds with one stone, Nasscom—the soft­ware industry body—is launch­ing a 'volunteer' programme. Its stated objective is to facili­tate IT/BPO employees who are interested in doing voluntary work find the right fit. Howev­er, in recessionary times where jobs are at risk, this initiative can direct/cajole employees who are losing jobs, those on the verge of it, or those who simply want a sabbatical to take up full-time/part-time volun­tary work with NGOs. Nass-com's programme is reminis­cent of schemes launched by Infosys and Wipro a while ago. Nasscom is currently in the process of designing a com-
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workers to evince interest in some kind of voluntary activ­ities." Nasscom Foundation is a non-profit arm of Nasscom that focuses on community projects in the areas of educa­tion, healthcare, employabili-ty and livelihood. "Based on a dip stick study we conducted among tech/ BPO workers in Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad, we have realised that there is need for a common platform that can assist em­ployees make a decision on what kind of voluntary activi­ties they can take up," she said. Employees can login to this portal, search and sign up for volunteering opportunities. Nasscom has already roped in 75 NGOs in 13 states while many more are expected to be part of the programme.
IT/BPO companies can also post their volunteering needs on the portal, which will be of­ficially lunched in July It was Infosys that pioneered the trend a quarter ago saying it would let 50 employees to go on a one-year sabbatical to work with NGOs, governments or trade bodies that work in education or healthcare spaces. During this period, employee will be paid 50% of their salaries. But, as of now the scheme has at­tracted less than 10 employees. A fortnight ago, Wipro too came out with a similar sab­batical plan.
Ivy League and equivalent institutions look for well-rounded CVs that portray the applicant as a socially relevant individual, who can contribute to society.
prehensive portal that will fea­ture voluntary activities at IT companies and NGOs, so that 2.5 million knowledge workers will have a single-point access to various voluntary
schemes/projects happening across the country.
Nasscom Foundation CEO Rufina Fernandes told The Times of India: "To start with, we expect at least 10% of tech