Mr. Som Mittal,
Ex President NASSCOM

Dear Friends,

I would like to share with you the progress that we, in the IT and ITES industry, have made over the past few years.

• The size of the IT / ITES industry has exceeded USD 60 Billion for the year ended March 2008. Of this nearly USD 40 Billion is export related and approx USD 22 Billion pertains to the domestic market.
• The year on year growth for both IT services and BPO has been around 30% and the outlook for the future continues to be robust.
• The share of this industry is 5.5% of our GDP (Gross Domestic Product).
• The industry provides employment to nearly 2 million employees directly. It is estimated that indirect employment generated as a consequence of the growth in this industry is about 4 times. In effect this industry has generated direct and indirect employment for about 10 million (1 crore) people.

This rapid growth in this industry has also catalyzed growth in many associated sectors. Needless to say, this success would not have been possible without the efforts and commitment of each one of you.

A joint by NASSCOM and AT Kearney highlights the need to create many more destinations from which the IT / ITES businesses can operate. The expected growth through the next 10 years is expected to be nearly four-fold, employing over 8 million employees by 2018. Given this forecast of high growth on the manpower front, it is essential that we make sure that the data / information handled by us remains secure; our systems and employee pool does not get contaminated by criminal elements. To achieve this end the National Skills Registry was created so that employees in the IT / ITES industry could register themselves voluntarily and allow access to their employers to verify their background.

Many of you would be aware of the National Skills Registry and in all likelihood many of your friends may be among the 270,000+ employees who have already registered themselves on this Registry. I have personally registered myself on the NSR along with my team. It is heartening to note that there has been a near unanimous acceptance of this initiative. This Registry, a first-of-its-kind, will help us raise the standards of security and safety of our industry and employees to a great extent.

Essentially, the NSR is a Registry which captures data and information that employees provide as a part of their normal joining formalities. The following data elements are captured as a part of the "Record"

• Personal Details : like Name, Nationality, Gender, Date of Birth, Present and Permanent address, Mobile Phone Numbers, E mail ID and Passport Details etc.
• Educational Details : like High School, Graduation, Post Graduation, Specialized Training Courses etc that may have been attended, Name of the Course, Name of the College, Board, University etc, Year of Passing, etc
• Employment History : like Name of Previous Employers, Address of Company that s/he had worked for, Dates when s/he joined and exited, Designation when s/he joined and exited etc
• Biometric details : Photograph and Finger Prints of the employee

It is important to note that this record is the "Property" of the individual employee. It is password protected and access is completely controlled by the employee themselves. Therefore, while the data resides on a common server, it cannot be accessed by anyone unless the employee himself authorizes access to it.

This Registry is run by NSDL, National Securities Depository Ltd. https://www.nationalskillsregistry.com NSDL is a 11 year old depository which manages large databases and currently services over 9.5 million investors holding securities worth USD 1 Trillion. It also manages the Tax Information Network for the Income Tax Department. The reason for highlighting these salient features is to drive home the point that the employeesÂ' data will get the same level of security that NSDL provides for the securities it holds and the confidentiality that it provides to the Income Tax department.

I would strongly urge you to register yourselves on the NSR and thereby, be an integral part of the movement to dramatically raise the level of security in this industry and keep criminals and other felons at bay. It is a process that does not take long to complete but goes a long way in ensuring that we collectively sleep more comfortably at night, with our jobs and companies that we work for becoming more secure.

With warm regards,
Som Mittal