It may not have escaped Oscar Fernandes’s notice that the media was somewhat underwhelmed by his appointment as the new labour minister. But he should cheer up. He may get a lot of press soon and it won’t be because of that old chestnut — fights over PF rates — but courtesy something pretty new in India’s labour markets. For this opportunity he should thank a few Left-wing politicians, assorted union leaders and some commentators. But most of all, he must thank an institution his ministry supports.

The government-funded V.V. Giri National Labour Institute had some time back published a study on BPO employees. The study concluded that galley slaves in Roman ships were the appropriate reference point when analysing the working conditions of the BPO sector. BPO offices were called sweatshops. Since that study, elegant Left-wing commentary has given us phrases like “transnational proletariat” and “fragmentation of solidarity” to explain why BPO is just a global capitalist scam. Young alienated Indians are the victims. For some months now, union leaders have been trying to do something for these youngsters. Some results are evident: CITU has formed the West Bengal Information Technology Services Association (WBITSA); as reported in Thursday’s Business Standard, CITU strategists have asked “Left sympathisers” (a term that seems to include children and relatives of prominent Left leaders) in IT/BPO sectors to spread the message further; and there are plans that once a pan-Indian BPO union is established the UPA government will be asked, firmly of course, to implement labour laws in this sector.

... contd.