Tag: Anand Mahindra

After Industrialists Offer Jobs to Discharged Agniveers, Veterans Question Past Hiring Record

Industry leaders Anand Mahindra and Harsh Goenka have offered jobs to Agniveers. Several others have supported the scheme, saying it would benefit the industry by providing “trained and disciplined youth”.

New Delhi: While countrywide protests against the Agnipath military recruitment scheme are raging, several industrialists have promised to offer jobs to Agniveers, the soldiers who will be recruited into the armed forces for a period of four years. The scheme plans to demobilise 75% of the recruited troops after four years without a pension, sparking concerns over the demobilised Agniveers’ employability.

Mahindra Group chairman Anand Mahindra on Monday, June 20 promised to offer jobs to Agniveers after they are demobilised. He wrote on Twitter, saying “When the scheme was mooted last year I stated-and repeat-the discipline and skills Agniveers gain will make them eminently employable”. He said he is saddened by the violence around the Agnipath program.

He added, “The Mahindra Group welcomes the opportunity to recruit such trained and capable young people.”

When a Twitter user asked the industrialist which jobs Mahindra Group would give to Agniveers, Mahindra responded, “Large potential for employment of Agniveers in the Corporate Sector. With leadership, teamwork, and physical training, Agniveers provide market-ready professional solutions to industry, covering the full spectrum from operations to administration & supply chain management.”

Within a few hours of Mahindra’s announcement, the chairman of RPG Enterprises Harsh Goenka expressed his intent to offer jobs to the discharged Agniveers.

Several other industrialists have supported the Agnipath scheme, saying it would benefit the industry by providing “trained and disciplined youth”.

Tata Sons chairman N. Chandrasekaran said that the Agnipath scheme would help the industry, including the Tata group, get a pool of disciplined and trained youth.

“We recognise the potential of the Agniveers and welcome the opportunity this represents,” he said in a statement.

Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, the founder-chairperson of pharma major Biocon, said Agniveers will have a distinct advantage in recruitment in the industrial job market.

Also read: Why the Government’s ‘Plans’ for Demobilised Agniveers Don’t Inspire Trust

The past record of India Inc’s hiring spree

Several military veterans, opposition leaders and journalists have asked the industrialists to furnish data showing how many ex-servicemen they had employed in the past in their respective corporate houses.

Former Air Vice-Marshal Manmohan Bahadur wrote on Twitter, tagging Mahindra: “Sir, could we have some stats as requested by the ex Naval Chief (Prakash)? I have retired after forty years in service listening to such promises.”

Abhishek Kumar, who said he was a former Navy engineer, said he had approached the Mahindra Group for a job but did not receive any response.

“I am ex-navy engineer sailor, released from Navy on June 31, 2017. I approached Mahindra group for a suitable job but they did not reply to my request. After 5 years still I am jobless and now suddenly all companies are ready to give jobs to Agniveers. What a joke,” he tweeted.

He added that he had no complaints with the government’s new recruitment policy but with “white lies being spread by the corporate sector that they will look after Agniveers after four years”.

Another ex-serviceman tweeted as saying: “Dear Mr Mahindra, nearly 60-70000 fully trained soldiers retire year on year. If I may ask, how many of these do you presently absorb? Any statistics. We’ll come to Agniveers later when the time comes.”

Rashtriya Lok Dal’s Jayant Singh Bishnoi has also asked industry veterans to disclose how many ex-servicemen do they currently have in their organisations.

To all the Corporates who (under pressure) are announcing that they will hire #Agniveers, please first come out with a disclosure of how many veterans you have in your ranks today? Before hiring Agniveers, I think the regular armed forces veterans should be prioritised!

— Jayant Singh Bishnoi (@jayantrld) June 20, 2022

What about government jobs?

Amid continuing protests and violence over the Agnipath scheme, the Union government has offered a slew of support measures to accommodate Agniveers in various government departments after their four-year service.

Separately, Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar on June 21, Tuesday announced that Agniveers will be given guaranteed jobs in the state government after completing their four-year stint in the armed forces.

But data shows that government departments have a terrible track record when it comes to filling jobs that are reserved for ex-servicemen. While ex-servicemen should make up 10% of Group C posts and 20% of Group D posts in Central government departments, they only account for 1.29% and 2.66% respectively. Quotas in Central public sector undertakings, Indian railways, paramilitary forces and public sector banks are also far from being met, the data shows.

WhatsApp Says Policy Update Doesn’t Affect Privacy of Messages

The update includes changes related to messaging a business on the platform and provides “further transparency” about how the company collects and uses data, the social media giant said in a blog.

New Delhi: WhatsApp on Tuesday said its latest policy update does not affect the privacy of messages as the Facebook-owned company sought to address concerns around the security of user data on the platform.

In a blogpost, WhatsApp emphasised that it does not share users’ contact lists or data of groups with Facebook for ad purposes, and that neither WhatsApp nor Facebook can read messages or hear calls between users on WhatsApp.

Last week, WhatsApp had informed users of an update in its Terms of Service and privacy policy regarding how it processes user data and partners with Facebook to offer integrations across the social media giant’s products.

It also stated that users will have to agree to the new terms and policy by February 8, 2021, in order to continue using WhatsApp’s service.

This kickstarted a spate of conversations and memes on the internet over WhatsApp’s alleged sharing of user information with Facebook, and many users have started shifting to rival platforms like Telegram and Signal.

“We want to be clear that the policy update does not affect the privacy of your messages with friends or family in any way. Instead, this update includes changes related to messaging a business on WhatsApp, which is optional, and provides further transparency about how we collect and use data,” WhatsApp said.

It added that WhatsApp accesses only the phone numbers from the address book (after getting user’s permission) to make messaging fast and reliable, and that it doesn’t share contact lists with the other apps Facebook offers.

“We use group membership to deliver messages and to protect our service from spam and abuse. We don’t share this data with Facebook for ads purposes. Again, these private chats are end-to-end encrypted so we can’t see their content,” it noted.

A report by internet security researcher Rajshekhar Rajaharia had claimed that at least 1,700 private WhatsApp group links were visible on Google through a web search.

WhatsApp noted that users can choose to set their messages to disappear from chats “for additional privacy”.

The messaging giant – which has about 400 million users in India – said it will always be clear within the app when users are communicating with any business that uses its features designed for commercial entities.

WhatsApp explained that some large businesses need to use hosting services to manage their communication, and that it provides them the option to use secure hosting services from Facebook to manage WhatsApp chats with their customers, answer questions, and send information like purchase receipts.

“But whether you communicate with a business by phone, email, or WhatsApp, it (business) can see what you’re saying and may use that information for its own marketing purposes, which may include advertising on Facebook. To make sure you’re informed, we clearly label conversations with businesses that are choosing to use hosting services from Facebook,” WhatsApp added.

WhatsApp said if users choose to interact with ‘Shops’ (Facebook branded commerce feature), their shopping activity can be used to personalise their Shops experience and the ads users see on Facebook and Instagram.

“Features like this are optional and when you use them we will tell you in the app how your data is being shared with Facebook… If you have WhatsApp installed on your phone, you’ll have the option to message that business. Facebook may use the way you interact with these ads to personalise the ads you see on Facebook,” it added.

Interestingly, a number of business leaders including Mahindra Group chairman Anand Mahindra, Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma and PhonePe CEO Sameer Nigam have spoken of moving to rival platforms.

Mahindra said he had installed Signal, while Nigam said he had moved 1,000-plus ‘PhonePe-rs’ to Signal, and recreated all his workgroups and moved family groups.

“…WhatsApp is by far and away the best product I’ve ever seen in the social/comm category. I trusted the WA founders. I loved the simplicity of their product. Never imagined switching to another chat app. C’est la vie,” Nigam tweeted.

Sharma also advocated moving to Signal. “They say, market has power. We are the largest market. Here in India WhatsApp/Facebook are abusing their monopoly & taking away millions of users’ privacy for granted. We should move on to @signalapp NOW. It is upto us to become victim or reject such moves,” he said in a tweet.

Mahindra Warns of Job Losses in Auto Sector, Seeks Government Help

A slump in sales has triggered massive job cuts in the sector that employs 35 million people directly or indirectly. Initial estimates suggest that about 3,50,000 workers have been laid off since April.

Mumbai/Bengaluru: Indian automaker Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd (M&M) said on Wednesday it saw a “huge danger” of job losses in the ailing domestic auto sector, as it sought government intervention, including tax reductions to revive demand.

A lending crisis among the country’s shadow banks, which fund nearly 55-60% of commercial vehicles and 30% of passenger cars, has led to automakers, including M&M and its rivals Maruti Suzuki India Ltd and Tata Motors Ltd, to either cut production or temporarily close plants.

M&M said in a statement it was only able to maintain margins due to falling commodity prices and the government must reduce the Goods and Services tax (GST) rate to spur demand.

A slump in sales is also triggering massive job cuts in the sector that employs 35 million people directly and indirectly. Reuters reported on Tuesday that initial estimates suggest automakers, parts manufacturers and dealers have laid off about 350,000 workers since April.

Also read: Two Lakh Jobs Cut in Last 3 Months Across Automobile Dealerships: FADA

“Now job losses are happening in four areas OEMs (original equipment makers), suppliers, dealers and unorganised sector,” Managing Director Pawan Goenka told reporters in Mumbai in a post-earnings press meet.

M&M’s heavy goods segment, which makes trucks and tippers, saw its worst growth in nearly six years, the company added, as it reported a June-quarter consolidated profit that nearly halved from a year ago to Rs 9.14 billion ($129.10 million).

“Given the current challenging global and domestic growth environment, a concerted policy effort will be required to prop sentiment, put a floor under consumption and revive growth,” M&M said.

M&M shares were 4.9% down in afternoon trading.

Tech Mahindra Fires ‘Homophobic’ BPO Services Training Head

A former employee had accused Richa Gautam of making generalisations about sexuality, apart from discrimination and harassment. After a thorough investigation, she was asked to leave with immediate effect, Tech Mahindra said.

New Delhi: Information technology giant Tech Mahindra has fired its BPO services training lead Richa Gautam with immediate effect after an investigation into allegations that she was homophobic towards a former employee. At the time of alleged discrimination and harassment, Gautam was the head of diversity and inclusion.

Last Sunday, former employee Gaurav Pramanik had tweeted a screenshot of an email he had set Gautam after decriminalisation of Section 377 by the Supreme Court. In the email, Pramanik said that in 2015, she had spoken “callously” and in a “bigoted way and the most insulting way”, making generalisations about people’s sexuality and their upbringing.

After the allegations, Twitter users also unearthed tweets from her personal account where she made bigoted remarks against the Indian Muslim community and tweets advocating the killing of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal.

Following the allegations, the company announced on September 11 through Twitter that a thorough investigation would be conducted and steps would be taken as necessary. The company’s CEO and MD C.P. Gurnani also assured Pramanik that the issued would be investigated. According to reports, Gautam was no longer the diversity and inclusion officer as of a year ago.

On Saturday, the company said that Gautam had been “separated from the employment of the company with immediate effect”. It added, “At Tech Mahindra, we believe in diversity & inclusion & condemn discrimination of any kind in the workplace.”

According to the Indian Express, chairman Anand Mahindra had also replied to Pramanik, saying, “I can categorically assure you that we celebrate diversity in our workplace…. Tech M is investigating these allegations, and appropriate action will follow…” A company ombudsman is also believe to have called Pramanik to interview him. According to the Indian Express, Pramanik is said to have given the ombudsman contacts for other employees who had faced similar grievance.

Tech Mahindra Ex-Employee Accuses Manager of Discrimination Against Homosexuals

Mahindra Group chairman Anand Mahindra said the company is investigating the matter and “will ascertain the facts and see that the outcome is fair and just”.

New Delhi: IT company Tech Mahindra said Tuesday it would conduct a thorough probe after a former employee, just days after the Supreme Court decriminalising homosexuality, alleged harrassment and discrimination by his then team manager in 2015.

Mahindra Group chairman Anand Mahindra said the company is investigating the matter and “will ascertain the facts and see that the outcome is fair and just”.

He assured that the group celebrates diversity at workplace and “fairness and dignity” of an individual are enshrined in core value of the company. “Our code of conduct is explicit on this subject … Tech M is investigating these allegations, and appropriate action will follow,” Mahindra tweeted. Tech Mahindra, which faced online criticism after the former employee went public with the charges against his former team leader, said in a separate tweet that it will undertake a “thorough investigation and take steps as necessary”.

Terming the issue as “disturbing”, the company said that it was “completely against the ethos of our group that believes in uniqueness of every individual.”

In a recent mail written to his previous manager after the SC’s landmark order, Gaurav Probir Pramanik cited a 2015 incident where the manager concerned, during an address in a training room, had allegedly made “sweeping generalisation and stereotyping of someone’s sexuality”.

Pramanik accused the manager of making “mocking judgements” on how his purported “effeminate” nature had affected his work.

He further alleged that the manager made “a mockery out of a religious minority and a sexual minority” despite being a leader at a company that prides itself for inclusion and diversity. CP Gurnani, managing director and CEO of Tech Mahindra tweeted: “Gaurav, you have my personal assurance that this will be thoroughly investigated. We remain committed to supporting and promoting a diverse workforce at TechM”.

On 6 September, the apex court in a historic ruling had said that consensual gay sex is not a crime, while striking down a British era law that it said violates the right to equality.

In his mail, Pramanik said that he had “promised” to write to the manager “the day IPC Section 377 was scrapped and being a homosexual in a country as great as India was legal”.