Life after GLOBALIZATION in INDIA...Part : 1 & 2.
this article was written on 20-2-2007
A.D 1999. Our unions finance Minister Mr. Man Mohan Singh (our present Prime Minister) declared liberalization polices. A pet name given for globalization. Well-educated people and I.T sector welcomed open heartily. Most of the multi national companies made beeline for"destination India ". People who understood the meaning of globalization (hardly few people under stood the meaning of globalization in those days) and communist party opposed globalization policies in India. VRS (voluntary retirement scheme). Made headlines. Central, state and even all privet sector especially white good manufactures offered VRS. The result was load shedding and proliferation of franchise system.
Globalization boom was felt it I T sector. I T and BPO sector had a vertical takeoff. Spending half of their lifetime paid rich dividend for youngsters. Youngsters made money unheard of their parents in their life time .the more money they made the more distance they kept form us. Most of them refused to recognize lesser mortals like us. MNC culture was spreading rapidly.
. Work hard, party hard became their mantra (prayers). They are having field days. Work @ sex was unheard in olden days except in film field and showman business (casting couch system). As long as dead lines were met MNC authorities are not bothered about behind the closed-door affairs. They neither encouraged nor imposed code of conduct inside their office premises. Long and unearthly working hours brought its own problems. There is visible change in values In personnel and professional level of those who work in MNC. Live in relationship, unhappy married life, casual sex, and break down on social contacts. In working couples infidelity became part of their life. Even though couple lives within the four walls they have no time for each other's. They lived in their own world. Exmartial relationship is now acceptable among many couples. Morels and family values are fast disappearing even in middle class family. Roots and family values are no longer revenant even in middle class families.
Youngsters will get burnt out in about ten year's work at MNC. Such is the pressure to show productivity of an individual. Those who can not show productivity or worth of their pay are shown door. I personally feel in every MNC there must be a board which read like in our cemetery. "Me today! …. You tomorrow ". With a skull marking laughing…
Now for any other non-technical department minimum qualification is graduation and maximum age limit is below thirty years. White good service divisions are run by franchise system. Worst effected is senior service technician and under graduated family man. Franchisee system in white good division is run on per call basics .To give instant service to the coustmer manufactures are opening as may as service centers. Franchise employs as many as technicians to give instant service to the customer. We live in an instant era, instant gratification. Number of calls gets divided. Only bachelor guys can benefit (enjoy) such system .for a family man few card per day can not keep is life and soul together.
People in India is yet to understand (even after six year) the real meaning of globalization .if democracy is an invasion on culture, globalization is dictatorship in capitalism (expect in clerical department where work is not target oriented) the is no free food in this world .it means only fittest can survive in globalize world.. Charles Darwin theory is now applicable to human beings also. In this competitive world how long you can stay fit is yet t be seen. Those who work in software division in MNC must be prepared for pleasant surprise .lay off! . Strike like a bolt of lighting out of the blue .…uncertainly is the middle name of MNC.... You do not know how long you will work for the company. (You are not the deciding factor). Hiring and firing is the order of the day. Read job to day gone tomorrow. Once this proverb was told about our hair. Now it is most appropriate word for that work in MNC. It means uncertainly about life and future. The purpose of globalization was to destroy communism. West had succeeded in it. Cheap labor and highly qualified people in India and third world countries brought most to the MNC's here. Now their (westerns) own people are adversely affected by the globalization. What once westerns were doing (work at MNC) we are doing it for them for less than half the amount..ex. - When a professional SFX artist gets RS 5000 per hour. Here in India for the same work and artist gets onlyRs.1000 per hour. Job has become seasonal like our love .it does not last longer. Enjoy it as long as it lasts!
. Unlike west we in India or third world countries are not having social security system to fall back. With globalization and well-educated people are able to find job rest of them can only fall on their face, like drop dead.
If you need to know the fate of Courtney where MNC were operating for the past decades you should check with Mexico. So Mexicans are supposed to be rich. Right? NO! An average Mexican's life has not improved dramatically but there environment took beating. These Multi nationals company exploit cheap labor and abuse our environments. Until they are forced with environmental probe or they get cheaper labor in other countries they will stick around. When MNC (here I am talking about MNC in industrial sector) moves out of our country in feature, we may be left coup with unemployment environment degradation problems. (Pollution form MNC industries)
China is not a communist country any more it is only for the sake of name. Their only probe is language. World's cheapest available products comes form china. That means they can supply cheap labor and materiel. Once they gain proficiency in English. I feel in abut ten year most to of them MNC in India will move out there. (Today is 19-2-2007).
I wish to write about two industries and their impact on human being and the effect on industrial pollution.
Leather industries and clothe dying unit in India.
In U.S and Europe you will not find a single tannery factory. Where the skin of the animals are treated chemically. Their countries stringent law does not permit to operate in their country. Most of companies were closed down more than twenty year ago. Now their country produces highly toxic chemicals for treating leather. Some to the chemicals are cancer inducing while other chemical damages internal organs over a period of time. Finished leather goods are send to Europe and US. We in third world countries do not use leather cloths .we have tannery industries in pallavaram, Ranipettai, Kanpur Gujarat, Calcutta and other palaces. one can feel the chemical stench far away on the GST main road. After treating leather with chemicals, untreated effluents are let out in open field, drain or in the river. It contaminates well and ground water in the neighboring area. Chemical pollute air and water in the near by factories. The pollution can cut down persons who work for such factories by fifteen year of his life. Since we in India do not keep statistics to show the long-term effect on workers. People still work in such hazard conditions the reason is high pay and illiteracy.
Cloth dying units are another hazards companies. Cloths are bleached with chlorine and caustic soda. Both are highly corrosive chemicals. In a bleaching unit you can not see one single iron items with out rust, such is the corrosive power of these chemicals. You can well imagine the concentration of chemical pollution in the air and the fate of the lungs of people working in extreme conditions. A part form that coloring agent (not vegetable or biodegradable colors) used to produce dazzling cloths is let out in an open space or near by river. Polluting ground water in near by area found most of the dying units are running with out valid license. Most of the materials from Thripur are send to U.S and Europe. Including some of the international brands cloths are made materials form these factories. In our country envermentist will take-up when situation became alarming proposition for the state or national. Corrupted politicians pay a vital role in every part of the Indian scenario.
GLOBLAISATION & SERVIE SCTOR (white goods). An eye opener.
After globalization franchise system was introduced in India. Is it a bane or boon? Read this article and find out yourself. I had worked in white goods service sector for more than fifteenyears. Here I will explain how franchisee and the service technical work for you.
Only super brand products and high-end model appliances get top priorities for immediate attention. Other models are made with cheap materials. You will find white goods are programmed to run till the guarantee period only. if you do not take annual maintenance contract, then your equipment will refuse to cooperate with you. Imagine if you have computer, air conditioner, fridge, washing machine and other appliances. Yearly you need to set aside money to run the show (home).
Until unless customer complaint goes to consumer court manufacture representative or service engineer will not take up your issues. If you are one among the VVIP then the company general manager could be at your disposal. In some case I found that there are manufacturing or design fault in some modes. I had worked for India's leading white goods manufacture' s franchise for more than five years .any given item there are more than four thousand consumer court case pending against the manufactures. One of the coustmer after ruining form pillar to post (manufacture and consumer court and back) he found a novel way to vent his frustration. To get a replacement or to get it repaired thorough the consumer court, at times it takes years to get it done. That many consumer cases on different manutfuers are pending in given time of the day.
This frustrated coustmer had a sense of humor because he believes in gandhiyan philosophy .non violent way of getting things done. He covered his fridge in a black bed sheet and carried his fridge with the help of four people (like we carry coffin) he took a possession through his colony main road. Chanting slogan against manufacture and the consumer court ,photograph of the possession was put on the local newspaper. I liked his innovation idea to protest violently!
With more than four thousand consumer court case pending; have you wonder how these manufactures still manage to keep their position in white goods sector? First only we technician knows how many case is in pending at the consumer court. These very same companies are spending ten cores or Indian rupees (RS. 100000000) just for advertisement with bollywood stars. Here is how our franchise System in India. Check whether they are boon or bane for the coustmer.
No white goods manufacturing companies were employing new service technician for their service department. They appointed franchise. Some of them offered work on sub contract biases to get their service done. With no other option, left I had joined in one of the India’s leading white goods manufacturing company’s franchise as service technician.
It was not bad in the beginning. Only five technicians to attend service calls .at times we end up attending four-pin code area per technician instead of three pin codes. Even at 9.30 PM, we were on site forty or fifty kilometer away from our home. Life was tough but we were able to make some extra money.
In franchise, system rules changes over night, according to the manufactures whims and fancies and regardless of workers benefits. Appointment procedures were made simple by franchise .no more appointments letter. Appointment was made verbally. It goes some thing like this.”Do you have your own vehicle “? And a mobile? Cell is a must you know it”? Without bike and cell phone, you are not considered as a service technician. They call it survival kit. Minimum requirements! “Ok, good. “Now you have to pay for uniform dress”. (Only God knows how long he is going to keep you in work.)”From tomorrow onwards you can join for work”. After you join for work, only he will tell you how to make more money by-achieving target regardless of working hours. Sooner or latter you yourself will find how much money, time and energy you have to use to extra money.
We never had PF, Gratuity, medical, (ESI) or life insurance, no vehicle maintains allowance, petrol or food allowances. Only consolidate pay per call they paid .RS .15 or RS 20 depend on the distance from work place. They paid RS 40 per call if it is in Timbkabtu or in out station. There are some company’s franchise and service subcontracts offering Rs10 for attending service calls. Those technicians survive by making “extra” money .how they make extra money and how much they make depends upon their individual “skill”.
Manufactures increased number of franchise to six and gradually increased number of technician to 24 (in our franchise) or per person for per pin code to give customer immediate response .it means per pin code area per person, thus reducing call attending time and reducing our nos. of service calls .our manufacture appointed five more franchise. Manufacture says sell accessories and makes extra money for the lost service calls .all the accessories were over prized. Delhi made items, some chine’s spare parts; some of the items are even sold by footpath sellers! Selling was tough. Since most of accessories sold along with appliance by the dealers at the time of selling appliances. Company offered us some incentives like, if we sell these items we get a consolation amount of 50 peanuts .the highest being 100 peanuts.
Per person per pin code area, it means number of reduced service calls (cards).
Per day average four or five calls. However, distance and petrol consumption remains same. At the end of the day when you calculate petrol, maintenance. And other expenses the struggle we family men make out a living was not worth it. With no other job other then franchise system available we just continue to work, lucky guys are those young bachelors at the end of the month they make out about RS 2000 or RS 2500 p.m. family men find it difficult to meet both ends. Most of the young and energetic people made fast money. Some of them disappeared with fridge or a/c. some technicians made arrangements to collect repairing charges from different customer in one particular day and took the entire amount about Rs12000 or Rs15000 and vanished. The intelligent one canvassed service contract from the costumes and settled down with their own shop. With “inside people”, they can all ways get their work done in double quick. In my five and half years of service, more than 250 young and energetic technicians were kicked out of service. Hiring and firing was the order of the day.
Target was always set beyond the reach of anyone. Our manufacturing company demand that we generate ten lacks rupees worth of business per month. Thorough sales service and annul maintenance contract. Our boss was a B.P.patient .he flared up now and then .use foul languages, a very abusive person. When we point out hardly 120 or 130 per person/ month. How can one generate one lakhs rupees worth of business per month? Our boss for the matter any other boss does not like asking questions .he will yell at us by saying, “you people are giving lame excuses! That is the advantage of being a BOSS. You can also talk through either side of your mouth. We get enough from customers; any given time there is more than 4000 customer case in consumer court including manufacturing defect. Shouting back at customer will cost our job and our boss shouts at us for not bring enough revenue for him. Our Boss was under tremendous pressure to show ten lakhs rupees worth of business per month. I was a good technician, when it comes to meeting target I was always above average .it is impossible to meet target every time. If you remember that 20 % person does 80 % of the work, you will understand what I mean.
When our boss humiliated me in front of others for not archiving target I felt that I could forgive my enemy if ever I wanted to kill some one it must be our boss! So much pressure at work place .No house wife or a mother will never know what is present day work pressure or how much we technician get abused by manufactures, by our boss and also by coustmer. When it is a question of family survival and keeping the job, we take every thing in our stride.
After the globalization, manufactures localized their work. Manufacture goods, spare parts, put cash in their bank and attend consumer case at the court. Period. They now run their office with skeleton staff. . Franchise technician’s work includes not only servicing their equipment but also to generate as much as money for the manufactures. A Technician becomes all in all. He must be a sales person, capable to selling products or spare parts, collection agent, PRO for the manufactures and it is also duty read warning it is the duty of each and every technician to see that the customer are not gone to consumer court at any cost .we were asked to settle the dispute then and there. How you do it is none of the manufactures business! Their argument is that if it is not a manufacturing defect then the fault lies with the technician! How convenient for them to blame on technician. Company executives did preaching. It comes naturally to them .how many examples read cock and bull stories they tell us to motivate. Ask any of the company or franchise boss to be in our shoes, they get pissed off. That too for peanuts for per calls. Rest is assured when you got home... God blesses those poor souls!
I am a victim of globalization .you may not believe me. Read THE LIFE OF A LITTLE PRINCESS (life/ story) in my blog. You will find the answer. The story will tell you how globalization ruins a family life of an ordinary person's life. Working mode of the service sector in white goods changed the fate of senior service technician. With time an aged service technician became an invalid person.
Jivan.
Little princess. i have used paint soft ware for designing cover page of my life/story (semi-fiction) . the little girl on the cover page is my little princess .Sony Gudiya . Story line.. THE LIFE OF A LITTLE PRINCESS. (Life/ Story). This story is dedicated to my daughter. How globalization changed an ordinary persons family life forever. An aged father's struggle to give his only daughter, good education and a secured life. After the court battle for his daughter's custody will he ever live with his estranged wife?.
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