Andhra gives nod for India's first BPO in jail

[OhioChick]

Source: Times of India

IANS, Jun 23, 2010, 08.19pm IST

HYDERABAD: India's first Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) facility in jail will become a reality with the Andhra Pradesh government Wednesday giving its nod to the proposal.

As part of jail reforms and to provide income generating opportunities to prisoners, the government decided to allow private industry including BPOs to set up their units in prisons.

Chief minister K. Rosaiah gave the green signal for the proposal at a meeting called to discuss a draft bill to use the services of convicts for social activities.

Home minister P. Sabita Indra Reddy told reporters that the chief minister had cleared the proposal, enabling India's first BPO unit to come up in Hyderabad's Cherlapally Central Jail.

Under the public-private partnership, Bangalore-based Radiant Info Systems Ltd will set up the unit, to be manned by educated convicts.

Out of 2,000 inmates in the Cherlapally jail, the authorities will shortlist 250 convicts. They will be trained for few months before the BPO starts its operations.


Read more: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/Andhra-gives-nod-for-Indias-first-BPO-in-jail-/articleshow/6083321.cms

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Nice.

[Newsjock]

1. If it can't be outlawed, then require disclosure

States could pass legislation that require any company that outsources any type of financial transactions to a prison-based operation disclose that fact to customers prominently and regularly with each transaction. Not just in India, but in the USA as well.

Who could oppose that? (Republicans, the prison industry, etc.)

[ChromeFoundry]

2. Goldman Sachs, anyone??

Inside job gives call centres a pool of cheap labourRhys Blakely in Mumbai

Britons have grown accustomed to dialling call centres in Bangalore to check their bank details. But what if your bank’s back office was in an Indian prison — and was manned by criminals?

In what has been billed as “a unique public-private experiment”, an Indian outsourcing company that claims Royal Bank of Scotland and Goldman Sachs as clients is to employ inmates at Cherlapally Central Jail in Hyderabad to help to process bank paperwork.

About 250 prisoners — both convicts and those awaiting trial — will carry out work for Indian banks and insurance companies after receiving training in basic tasks such as typing application form details into computers.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article7124634.ece

[BrklynLiberal]

3. So, now all our service calls will not just be answered by someone in India..but someone in India

who is in JAIL.....Could it possibly get any better than that??

Our jobs are now being outsourced to Indian prisons....

[happygoluckytoyou]

4. now renamed IN-sourcing, criminals in india are learning programming skills

[Heywood J]

5. I just can't believe this.

Outsourcing not just to India, but to prisons in India for even cheaper labor. Will they be working for a fraction of the already low prevailing area wage? Was the average Indian was making too much money for a corporation to stand it?