The Hindu Business Line : Powell and BPO

This is with reference to the editorial "Powell-speak on BPO" (Business Line, March 22). The editorial brings out the anomaly in the US stand on BPO vis-à-vis the observations of the McKinsey report.

Though the report projected a savings of $390 billion by shifting works out of the country, the US administration's present stand that India should open its market so that "jobs would be created in US" appears to be rather unconvincing.

A hasty decision by the US Senate to ban outsourcing of the government contracts, before any firm resolution has been adopted by WTO on the "human resource activity of outsourcing" also brings out the double standards adopted by that country on the matter.

It is yet to be seen whether Mr Powell's admission that outsourcing is a global reality of the present century may percolate into his country.

The protests from the vested interests for projecting this theory to the US President bring out the source of the controversy.

An upper hand of politics over economic considerations may, indeed, help worsen the situation.

C. P. Velayudhan Nair

Kochi

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