Firms should recruit from rural areas also, says Moily

Business houses should change their urban-centric attitude and recruit more people from rural areas, minister of corporate affairs M Veerappa Moily said today.

Speaking to media persons on the sidelines of a function organised by RuralShores Business Services, which provides BPO services from rural centres, Moily said some companies have found the services of rural youths error-free. “The employers today have an urban-centric attitude and they need to change this. Youths from rural areas, despite having all required jobs skills, lag behind their counterparts in urban areas because of lack of soft skill,” he said.

In order to draw the attention of corporates to the rural areas, the Centre for the first time has included corporate social responsibility in the new Companies Bill, 2011. The bill, which is expected to be presented before the parliament next week, will enable to attract the attention of the corporates to the development of the backward districts in the country, said Moily.

The government has identified 300 backward districts where the corporates can work in areas like education, healthcare and providing job-enhancement training apart from bringing investments to those places, he added.

“It will be our endeavour to attract the attention of the corporates to rural India. Though it is not mandatory, corporates should realise that it is a kind of social business – it will help them in the long-run,” he said.

With regard to the Serious Frauds Investigation Office, Moily said, in the new companies Bill, the government is giving it legislative status which would empower them for investigation, search and arrest.