New Delhi: If there’s one issue corporate India can’t figure out, it’s caste. In a deep dive into workplace diversity and inclusion, the Financial Times reports that corporate India continues to ignore caste.
With diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) becoming a buzzword in the corporate world, FT reports that Indian companies have incorporated the words—gender, sexuality, physical ability, and race—on websites and documents. However, caste is omitted because it remains a sensitive subject, and it “induces fatigue”. Affirmative action and reservation quotas “breed resentment” among upper castes, and conducting a caste census is still a can of worms the central government seems unwilling to open.
In such a climate, “many have placed their hopes in economic growth and modernisation,” observes FT. “Yet, increasingly, this appears to have been a false hope, and caste is now the lens through which many are viewing economic inequality.”
The story quotes DEI experts as saying that people still get asked about their caste in job interviews, and Brahmin groups organise Brahmin-only job fairs. One CEO of an investment firm told FT that caste imbalance does not make him feel bad because “Dalits have the quota system for their jobs.”
Despite many studies stating that diversity helps companies perform better, corporate jobs remain dominant castes’ wheelhouses. Many marginalised groups, meanwhile, prefer to hide their caste identity at work to fit in better.
Corporate India, it seems, still feels that dealing with caste is best left to corporate social responsibility policies.
The BBC reports on the “digital arrest” scam, which has been looting hundreds of Indians. Describing it as “a web of deceit spun by scammers”, the BBC tracks victims and quotes journalist Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay as someone who narrowly escaped financial loss but went through considerable emotional trouble in such a scam.
“The digital arrest scam involves fraudsters impersonating law enforcement officials on video calls, threatening victims with arrest over fake charges, and pressuring them to transfer large sums of money,” the report says.
Indians have lost over Rs 1,200 million to “digital arrest” hoaxes between January and April this year, with over 40 per cent of the scams traced back to Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos. However, the highly specific, relentless, and personalised nature of the “digital arrest” scam begs several questions on digital security.
Things are so bad that even Modi talked about the scam in an October episode of Mann Ki Baat. “Whenever you receive such a call, don’t be scared. You should be aware that no investigative agency ever inquires like this through a phone call; or a video call,” he said.
The story profiles the case of a doctor who was kept under “digital arrest” and nonstop surveillance for at least a week while forced to lie to her loved ones and workplace. It also says that Mukhopadhyay spent 28 hours under “digital arrest”, trapped in his study. However, he could eventually detect that it was a scam because of unusual questions from the scammers.
Moreover, the police seem unable to help quickly once the scammers strike. The doctor tells BBC about how policemen laughed when they heard her case, telling her how common it is. However, in an exception, there has been some movement in her case—18 suspects have been arrested from across India, and nearly a third of the stolen money has been recovered.
Meanwhile, Modi’s highly publicised trip to Nigeria has gained the PM some fans. Nigerian news agency Punch reports how Modi’s use of a Yoruba phrase, ore mi, which translates to “my friend”, “delighted Nigerians on social media, where many expressed excitement over the friendly exchange”.
Another Nigerian news agency, Vanguard, reports on Modi’s Abuja visit, where he was welcomed with the Indian anthem, a guard of honour, and then a 21-gun salute.
“President Tinubu and Prime Minister Modi will seek to strengthen Nigeria’s and India’s ties further during their bilateral discussions,” Vanguard reports, citing the signing of many MoUs and that this is the first time that Modi has visited since Dr Manmohan Singh visited Nigeria in 2007 when the “two nations established a strategic partnership.”
The Guardian reports that Modi will also make a “historic” state visit to Guyana this week, where both countries will likely sign energy and defence agreements. The visit from Tuesday to Thursday will be the first since Indira Gandhi visited in 1968, two years after Guyana gained independence from Britain.
Guyana has been experiencing an unprecedented economic expansion, growing by over 40 percent in the last three years., thanks to its oil boom. It has become a “magnet for global trade and investment interests, recently attracting a visit from Canada’s top commercial and development entities to explore investment opportunities”, reports The Guardian.
Modi will also meet leaders from the Caribbean Community (Caricom), including Guyana among 15 member countries. On Thursday, he will co-chair the Caircom-India Summit with Grenada’s prime minister.
“But the fact that Guyana was chosen as the landing point in the region is significant, a statement from the government of Guyana said, emphasising that, last year, President Ali was invited to India as the chief guest at the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, which celebrates the contribution of the overseas Indian community. At the event, Ali was awarded the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman—the highest honour given to overseas Indians,” The Guardian points out.
Nearly 40 percent of Guyana’s population trace their roots back to India, famously part of the “coolie diaspora” shipped from India to the Caribbean as indentured labourers by the British Empire.
The FT also carried a report on Gujarat International Finance Tec-City or GIFT City, which it describes as India’s “most ambitiously business-friendly project to date”, which has already drawn over 700 investors.
But what’s truly shocking to FT—and understandably so—is why corporates would want to forsake the cosmopolitan chaos of Mumbai with its energy and “beery taprooms and fine dining” for dreary, dry state Gujarat.
“Fittingly, GIFT city, which sits on the banks of the Sabarmati River in a flat and dusty landscape, offers something more pragmatic than Mumbai’s buzzing nightlife. As a special economic zone, it avoids India’s onerous red tape and strict capital controls while granting 100 per cent tax exemptions over 10 of 15 years,” FT says. “Those sweeteners have lured businesses from JPMorgan to HSBC as well as Australian universities, insurance houses, ship leasers and local tech titans Infosys and Wipro.”
One Western diplomat described it as “Modi’s baby”, but foreign businesses are shying away from it because it’s in the middle of nowhere. Despite over 20,000 employees already working in the area, it remains eerie and unpopulated, with barely any entertainment options.
“The long-term political viability of GIFT City has also come into question after a weakened Modi returned to power following a worse-than-expected electoral showing earlier in the year. Now, beholden to coalition parties during his third term, some observers wonder if the project will survive should India’s opposition eventually come back to power,” the report says.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
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FT should report about how Blacks are second class citizens in west rather than daily busy in India caste system. We have pappu for that matter. GIFT city is not going to stop because this govt will win 2029 after delineation