C.E. - In India, Poverty Inspires Technology

[Gregory Hewett]

October 30, 2007

In India, Poverty Inspires Technology Workers to Altruism
By ANAND GIRIDHARADAS

BANGALORE, India — Manohar Lakshmipathi does not own a computer. In fact, in India workmen like Mr. Manohar, a house painter, are usually forbidden to touch clients’ computers.

So you can imagine Mr. Manohar’s wonder as he sat in a swiveling chair in front of a computer, dictating his date of birth, phone number and work history to a secretary. Afterward, a man took his photo. Then, with a click of a mouse, Mr. Manohar’s page popped onto the World Wide Web, the newest profile on an Indian Web site called Babajob.com.

Babajob seeks to bring the social-networking revolution popularized by Facebook and MySpace to people who do not even have computers — the world’s poor. And the start-up is just one example of an unanticipated byproduct of the outsourcing boom: many of the hundreds of multinationals and hundreds of thousands of technology workers who are working here are turning their talents to fighting the grinding poverty that surrounds them.

“In Redmond, you don’t see 7-year-olds begging on the street,” said Sean Blagsvedt, Babajob’s founder, referring to Microsoft’s headquarters in Washington State, where he once worked. “In India, you can’t escape the feeling that you’re really lucky. So you ask, What are you going to do about all the stuff around you? How are you going to use all these skills?”

Perhaps for less altruistic reasons, but often with positive results for the poor, corporations have made India a laboratory for extending modern technological conveniences to those long deprived. Nokia, for instance, develops many of its ultralow-cost cellphones here. Citibank first experimented here with a special A.T.M. that recognizes thumbprints — to help slum dwellers who struggle with PINs. And Microsoft has made India one of the major centers of its global research group studying technologies for the poor, like software that reads to illiterate computer users. Babajob is a quintessential example of how the back-office operations in India have spawned poverty-inspired innovation.

The best-known networking sites in the industry connect computer-savvy elites to one another. Babajob, by contrast, connects India’s elites to the poor at their doorsteps, people who need jobs but lack the connections to find them. Job seekers advertise skills, employers advertise jobs and matches are made through social networks.

For example, if Rajeev and Sanjay are friends, and Sanjay needs a chauffeur, he can view Rajeev’s page, travel to the page of Rajeev’s chauffeur and see which of the chauffeur’s friends are looking for similar work.

Mr. Blagsvedt, now 31, joined Microsoft in Redmond in 1999. Three years ago he was sent to India to help build the local office of Microsoft Research, the company’s in-house policy research arm. The new team worked on many of the same complex problems as their peers in Redmond, but the employees here led very different lives outside the office than their counterparts in Redmond. They had servants and laborers. They read constant newspaper tales of undernourishment and illiteracy.

The company’s Indian employees were not seeing poverty for the first time, but they were now equipped with first-rate computing skills, and many felt newly empowered to help their society.

At the same time, Microsoft was plagued by widespread software piracy, which limited its revenue in India. Among other things, the company looked at low-income consumers as a vast and unexploited commercial opportunity, so it encouraged its engineers’ philanthropic urges.

Poverty became a major focus in Mr. Blagsvedt’s research office. Anthropologists and sociologists were hired to explain things like the effect of the caste system on rural computer usage. In the course of that work, Mr. Blagsvedt stumbled upon an insight by a Duke University economist, Anirudh Krishna.

Mr. Krishna found that many poor Indians in dead-end jobs remain in poverty not because there are no better jobs, but because they lack the connections to find them. Any Bangalorean could confirm the observation: the city teems with laborers desperate for work, and yet wealthy software tycoons complain endlessly about a shortage of maids and cooks.

Mr. Blagsvedt’s epiphany? “We need village LinkedIn!” he recalled saying, alluding to the professional networking site.

He quit Microsoft and, with his stepfather, Ira Weise, and a former Microsoft colleague built a social-networking site to connect Bangalore’s yuppies with its laborers. (The site, which Mr. Blagsvedt started this summer and runs out of his home, focuses on Bangalore now, but he plans to spread it to other Indian cities and maybe globally.)

Building a site meant to reach laborers earning $2 to $3 a day presented special challenges. The workers would be unfamiliar with computers. The wealthy potential employers would be reluctant to let random applicants tend their gardens or their newborns. To deal with the connectivity problem, Babajob pays anyone, from charities to Internet cafe owners, who finds job seekers and registers them online. (Babajob earns its keep from employers’ advertisements, diverting a portion of that to those who register job seekers.) And instead of creating an anonymous job bazaar, Babajob replicates online the process by which Indians hire in real life: through chains of personal connections.

In India, a businessman looking for a chauffeur might ask his friend, who might ask his chauffeur. Such connections provide a kind of quality control. The friend’s chauffeur, for instance, will not recommend a hoodlum, for fear of losing his own job.

To re-create this dynamic online, Babajob pays people to be “connectors” between employer and employee. In the example above, the businessman’s friend and his chauffeur would each earn the equivalent of $2.50 if they connected the businessman with someone he liked.

The model is gaining attention, and praise. A Bangalore venture capitalist, when told of Babajob, immediately asked to be put in touch with Mr. Blagsvedt. And Steve Pogorzelski, president of the international division of Monster.com, the American jobs site, said, “Wow” when told of the company. “It is an important innovation because it opens up the marketplace to people of socioeconomic levels who may not have the widest array of jobs available to them.”

Mr. Krishna, the Duke economist, called it a “very significant innovation,” but he cautioned that the very poor might not belong to the social networks that would bring them to Babajob, even on the periphery.

In its first few months, the company has drummed up job seekers on its own, sending workers into the streets with fliers promising employment.

To find potential employers, in addition to counting on word of mouth among those desperate for maids and laborers, Babajob is also relying on Babalife, the company’s parallel social networking site for the yuppie elite. People listed on Babalife will automatically be on Babajob, too.

So far, more than 2,000 job seekers have registered. The listings are a portrait of India’s floating underclass, millions and millions seeking a few dollars a day to work as chauffeurs, nannies, gardeners, guards and receptionists.

A woman named Selvi Venkatesh was a typical job seeker. “I am really in need of a job as our residential building collapsed last month in Ejipura,” she said, referring to a building collapse that killed two people, including an infant, in late July, according to The Times of India.

In Mr. Blagsvedt’s apartment one morning, Mr. Manohar, the painter, professed hope.

He earns $100 a month. Jobs come irregularly, so he often spends up to three months of the year idle. Between jobs, he borrows from loan sharks to feed his wife and children. The usurers levy 10 percent monthly interest, enough to make a $100 loan a $314 debt in one year.

Mr. Manohar does not want his children to know his worries, or his life. He wants them to work in a nice office, so he spends nearly half his income on private schools for them. That is why he was at Babajob in a swiveling chair, staring at a computer and dreaming of more work.

[xxlyra]

This current event article is about how social job networking is helping the unskilled labourers around Bangalore to find jobs with the upper class portion of the IT capital of India.

The Babajob case is a great example on how technology can, and must, reach out to and benefit all levels of society.
Technology is a huge accelerator in development, and if the lower classes do not want to be left hopelessly behind, they need to understand and actively try and solve this problem. All the developed world deals daily with technology the undeveloped world has had no experience with at all, and this leaves a gap in abilities. If unskilled workers or individuals from lower-class families want to obtain jobs normally considered 'higher' than them, they will be forced to deal with technology that they cannot operate - and this will affect their chances of getting that job and moving into the middle class.
To promote the use of technology amongst poor, local governments should encourage projects like the aforementioned among companies, and provide support for them - as with the Hewlett-Packard project, this is not charity, this is business, but it benefits enough people for the government to be obligated to support them if they want to see more of alike initiatives.
Examples of things that could propagate the knowledge of technology and its different uses could be things like the government investing in IT classes in schools, IT classes in public technology schools (like the one we visited on our field trip), and setting up think-tanks for companies and projects that could benefit the lower class via technology like the one mentioned in the article.
This will help the technology that shape tomorrow become accessible to everybody, not just those with the financial means. Accessibility is important in empowering certain groups, and this empowerment will hopefully melt away the frustration the lower class has suffered from being left behind because of their inability to keep up with technology. The 'too disempowered' portion of the population will shrink, and, at last, the world of technology will be open to every part of society, creating a more powerful state as a whole.

[julie]

In India, Poverty Inspires Technology Workers to Altruism

The web site “babajob.com” is, basically, a site where people can find a job by using the word of mouth among the people they already know.

I think this kind of web site is once more a form of development in India. It is a really good and well think idea that, I think, can help many people in needs of jobs. In addition, it gives more opportunities and chances to the poor to get a job, even thought they do not have a computers.

This web site is using the same system as Facebook. In Babajob, when one person connects employer with an employee, if this connection is useful to them, the person, the connector, earn money. In facebook, when you add certain applications, if you then, send an invitation of this application to one of your friends, and if he or she accepts it, you earn points for this application. It is the same concept. The fact that people can earn money by connecting several of their friends, motives them to do it. The only thing I do not understand is where does this money come from?

I went on the web site of Babajob, and I read that they are planning to expand this concept in other cities, because for now, Babajob is mainly concentrate on jobs in Bangalore.

I think that this system is working pretty well. As the article says, “more than 2,000 job seekers have registered. I guess and hope it will develop in other part of the world as well, because it really helps poor and I think it can really participate in the development of countries and in the improvement of certain people’s lives.

[jiyoung93]

This discussion form is about new web site created for poor people who is seeking for the job. Babajob: I went to the site and checked it out. I was curious to know what exactly it was. The first thing I saw was ¡®About us.¡¯ And it said that they are a combined effort to provide the best social networking and job site in India and eventually worldwide. It based on the simple idea that everyone deserves to get a better job and it was very easy to learn and use. In addition, it was very essential for the people who were seeking for the jobs. Moreover, it is a great advantage for poverty, like developing country like India. Hence, my space and face book are used to found people who are looking for the similar job, therefore, you can participate. Already 2,000 people have registered. Just by this amount of people, I realized that this is a good step for the people to approach the society. This also made me to think about the people who should know about this. Not only Bangalore, but other states also should be aware of this site. By spreading widely, India, it will bring some movement towards economic improvement, for those of who did not have any jobs yet.

I am glad to know that there are opportunities for everyone to get some kind job. Maybe this is the beneficial of technology. It has capacity of communicating with others and allowing more ways to get jobs. When they register and work for it, the limitation of to jobs in Bangalore generally pays under Rs.10, 000 a month. It would be fascinating for people who really wants job; and by choosing the categories. It is short and simple road to find the jobs. By this way, more people will have hope and chance to have their jobs, and automatically it will bring a growth to the economic.

///I never thought of this kind solution before, by helping people to find their jobs. Friendly web such as Babajob is kindly hiring people and giving them a satisfactory. It seems feasible that this Babajob can be good step to settle down the basic level of society for the developing country. However, it will take a long time (in the time of crisis of environment, busy caring and protecting climate change) including the increasing population of India, other major conflicts, and religious practices. All these are the obstacles where it stops the growth of developing country. It might affect Babajob because of numerous people want jobs, and for future, it could be more or less. (Depending on the how economic changes)///

[niranthara]

More than half of India's people live below the poverty line, but today this facet of under development is inspiring technology workers to invent programs that help the poor work productively.

Similar to the system used on face book and my space, technology workers have created job sites that work on the same lines, and help bridge the gap between the employer and the employee. These sites have the employees register their data and needs, which allow the employer choose according to his/ her wants.

Unlike most other job sites that work on a more commercial bases, babajob focuses on the development of the poor. Considering that most of these people have never used a computer, baba job payees charities and Internet cafes who help those in need register.

Baba job is able to use technology to help India realize its potential, by getting the poor to participate in development (which they were once excluded from). The poor remained poor because they weren't a part of development. They were never accepted in jobs that gave them the chance; but now that they are using technology, they have access to employers of the 'flat world.'

The outsourcing and IT booms have also helped these jobs sites play a larger role. These companies have provided more job opportunities, to employ those in need.
instead of suffering from poverty, people like Manohar will have the Chance to find a job and rise over the poverty line. These type of people will have the chance to contribute to development and work productively.
technology is usually used as a way to socialize and advertise, but it can also be used to develop and help the dis empowered communicate with the 'flat world.'

Since India has so many people suffering from poverty, what it needs is to be able to accept them as a part of it, and include them in its development. Only with a complete effort, and a contribution from everyone, will a country be able to move out of under development.

[kwangsampark]

This article is about a site that helps people seek for a job. It's not like the person going around the site and asking for a job, but by asking his friends, they may get in touch with their workers and get a job for them. This site is most happening in Bangalore, however it is planning to spread through India.

If this happens, people suffering from poverty will reduce somehow when they are capable to handle a computer. Even though they may not own a computer, they might get helps from people who do have, and get jobs for them. This is not just between people whom a person knows, but it's between people all over the world. And this tells us that because everyone is connected some how. It may be your friend's employer's friend's friend. The relationship may be really complex. But as a result, people with low wage, or poors will benefit a lot.

When I read about this article, I came to know that internet is used in lot of ways. The most important use is like the one in the article. I thought about the sites being used to help people get jobs, and came out with some ideas. By people getting jobs through internet, people will get used with computers, and also the country will benefit. The country will have improvements in their IT technology.

This is a good solution for people to find jobs without going out and looking for it. They may come back without any news or with a small temporary ones. But ny using the site, they may get multi jobs and get payed more. More and more people will try to get a job through devices like this in order to educate their children or feed their families. As it helps people, this kind of a solution may help developing countries to develop rapidly. Think about it. Will the country develop more when you look for jobs manually, or will it be more quick to look for a job in the internet where you just have to click a button once or twice? Some may think that manually will be more affective, but in my opinion with the internet they will more rapidly develop.

[sarah99]

Indian people struck with poverty find it hard to get out of it. This is not because there are good jobs in India, it is because they lack the connections to get those good jobs that will help them move forward. Some wealthier Indians got together to create a website that would help laborers making 2-3 dollars a day get better jobs. They called it “Babajob”, and today around 2,000 workers are registered. People looking for workers can go to this website to search for workers they need for specific jobs. These workers are now in a better situation than they were before, all because of Babajob.
I think this is a great idea!! I think that it will really help many people in India who need better jobs, especially if it becomes more widespread. They mentioned in the article than it might even become global, which would be great, because it would then help people stuck in poverty all over the world. If it does become global though, how it will it be organized?? It will need to be organized very well for it to work effectively all over the world. And how will it be publicized so that many people know about it?? For it to work best, it must be publicized so that many, many people know about it and can use it. This is an excellent idea, and I hope that it will become more widespread.

[nitika]

This article is about a site called Babajob. Babajob is a site where unprivileged people may find jobs by social networking just like Facebook, but instead this is not for fun but for finding jobs. The site is formed so that everyone in Banglore can get a job, even people who don’t even know how to use a computer.

Babajob pays the middle man an incentive, so that they continue to connect two people - the employer and the employee together.

I think that this website is really great and a very intelligent thing to do because it reaches out to all the people in Banglore, not just the rich. The people who get jobs on this website are happy because their job is stable. It doesn’t keep changing, and they are allowed to choose if they want to work for that particular man or woman. This website is a form of community service in a new and modernized way. Instead of donating money to the unprivileged people it finds them a job, so that they can put their skill to its best use. It uses technology to its best.

On Google I found many replies of employees after they had gotten their job. On woman said that this is the best thing that has happened to her, her life savor, its her hero. Her husband was a driver but one day he had lost his arms in an accident, and she didn’t know what to do, as she only went to school till grade 10. All she knew how to do was cook. She couldn’t afford his medicines, etc. So one day a person from Babajob employed her as a cook, and she now works as an assistant cook in a hotel in Banglore, and earns much more than her husband used to earn.

This is an example on how Babajob helps the underprivileged rise above the poverty line.

Babajob is going to slowly spread to other cities in India and later on the whole world.

[jozefien]

Facebook and myspace are the hype of this moment; the principle is easy, people can create their own profile and share information with others all over the world.Most of the time “social networking”, as it is called, is done to make new friends, but in Bangalore a similar website is set up to help poor people that are seeking a job. The name of the site is Babajob. The aim of Babajob is to form a connection between the poor, who need a job, and the rich, who are looking for employees such as drivers, maids, gardeners, and guards.
The internet is a well-chosen medium to perform this project, because it decreases the gap among the different social classes; in real life it wouldn’t be so easy for the poor to reach the rich and vice versa .To spread its project, Babajob gives money to people that are able to convince potential employers to register on the site. For the same reason, members who can match an employer and an employee are paid the amount of 2.50 $.This creates a link to real life where people find labourers by recommendations of others.

I think that Babajob is a project that can really reduce the poverty in Bangalore because giving people jobs means the same as giving people the certitude of having an income. It is better to give people a job than giving them money,because money is only temporary,but a job can give long-term certainty,it can start a movement in which people can think about their future and the future of their children. If Babajob spreads to other parts of India, it will help India to develop, because then people will have, like in developed countries, permanent jobs and that is good for the stability of a country.

Babajob is also an excellent way to make labourers, often people who live below the poverty line, aware of the benefits of the Internet. Nowadays, the Internet is a very important way of communication and a source of information, so introducing it in lower classes can be the beginning of the flattening of their world.
I had one question about this article: How do the people of Babajob reach the poor who need a job and don’t have access to the Internet?

[rmanu]

This article is about people who do not have good jobs are getting better jobs by a website called Babajob.com. Currently this is only taking place in Bangalore.

How does this work?
If you do not have a good job you just create a profile in Babajob.com and then people who want workers for a particular job choose from the site. '

There should be a lot more websites like this because one site cannot get that popular.

This is a very unique idea. In the other sites you can only look for a job but in Babajob.com you get chosen.

Sites like this will help India economically because mostly lower class people do not work. So they can get jobs from these kinds of sites. India's population is mostly of lower class people who do not work. So if there are more sites like this lot of people can get jobs.

I think that these sites should first get spread to the villages because most of them have jobs or the only job is to look after the rice fields. The urban areas have more people who jobs compared to the villages.

I think in the future poverty in India will be reduced a lot because of sites like Babajob.com producing jobs for the poor people or the lower class people. India's economy will become higher and due to this it will get more developed.

People who live in India should work here because if an Indian goes to England and works in an English company, It will not benefit India but it will benefit the company and England. If we do the same thing over here it will benefit India.

[jungkyu]

At first, I didn't really get what was 'Babajob'. Therefore, I went directly to that website. It told me that Babajob.com and babalife.com are a combined effort to provide the best social networking and job site in India and eventually worldwide. It allows people in India to get there jobs more simply, without any complicated steps. Just by registering, the site offers connection in which help the job seekers in India to get there jobs by them(the employers) finding for the job seekers who they can employ. The site can be easily used by people who need jobs, but lacks connection. The job seekers show their skills, and the employers show jobs that the people can get. It also has the function of when the friends are looking for jobs, they can click to the page and see who are looking for that same job. This website also deals people who don't know how to use them. Furthermore, about this article, it is also mentioned that other technolgy in India is developed that people don't even know it's there, who also don't have access to it, and do not often know how to use it. Therefore, these technologies are developed, like for Nokia they have low-price ones, A.T.M which recognizes thumprints, and development in Microsoft which made india global research groups studying technologies for the poor.

Due to the development of the wide-spread network in India, now, people who are at the poverty line has much more advantages compared to the past in a way to find their jobs. This increases India's development sharply, because as the time passes, more and more people are going to get registered in that site.
Now it is told in the article that there are 2,000 job seekers who are registered. I predict thaat more employers will make advertisement, at the time the job seekers register the site. I expect much more development towards the future of India, as the network system develops increasingly.

[priyankajohn]

In India, Poverty Inspires Technology

It was a nice piece of information. It is very interesting to know about this job portal called babajob.com It sure does help a lot of very underpriviledged people to get job opportunities. But for the poverty percentage present in India this is not enough. I think job portals like this should tie up with NGOs so that they can get a good data base of people who are jobless and starving from various villages and little towns. Another very important thing is people's background should be checked before enrolling them. For that I think they should have some kind of relation with the various police stations. In this regard when a person hires someone as labourer is sure of where he has come from and what his background is.
Am sure if all this is put into practise and more and more of such job portals opens up in all parts of the country many people will get job and many mouths can be fed and many children will have education.

[asifhilal]

This was a very nice article. Babajob.com is a “social job networking” site, aimed at helping poor Indians. (currently only people in Bangalore). I think that it is great that this site has been created. It encourages “connectors” or people in between that help other people give and get jobs. This works, because there are jobs that people can do, but they do not know where to find it. Babajob helps them find it. This site would work, because Babajob helps people who need jobs, and people who needs workers. Just recently, my family needed a driver. It took us some time to find us one. If there was a site such as Babajob for Chennai, it would have took us less time to find a driver.

I went to the Babajob website. It is a bummer that it is limited to Banglore. Also babajob encourages anyone with a computer and internet to help people find jobs. If you know a poor person who needs a job, you can register them at babajob. And when they get hired, the person who registered them gets 200 rupees. This will provide incentive for people to help people who need jobs. All of the jobs are usually low paying, but overall I think the site has been a success. However, it needs to expand to more places. Also the site has to be clearer on what they do. It was not to organized when I visited it.

[keisuke]

wow this article was ver interest
Even i read this article i really didnt get what was this Babajob really was, so i tried looking it up. When i looked it up it was based on for people in India to find their jobs.
However, this website is only be used in Bagalore which really sucks since Indian people who live in Chennai or dehli or other places in India wont be able to use this unique website.
These websites would help Indian's economy since most of the lower class people do not work and do not get paid that much. So by letting them see this website they would be able to get a good job.
I think that in the future these websites would be helpful to make India a developed country since with these websites people would be able to get good jobs.


p.s I love these types of article since im very interested in computer things and technology.

[hisu]

This current event is about how one website is changing the lives of many people who are living under the poverty line.
It is basically an easy accessible job website that provides jobs for many. It is kind of like myspace if you look at it since it is a site where you make profiles and write what your good at and what expertise that you have. It is not a typical job site like monster where you search for jobs. It is a site that has jobs searching for you.
This kind of thing is very effective since you don’t have to go through getting rejected from the company you are trying to work for. You don’t have to go through all this because an employer will come and search for a secretary and if your expertise is in typing he may give you an offer and you can reject it if you want.
This is helping many people to climb up from under the poverty line. And I think it is great that a website such as this is helping out with just a few keys. And I know now how such a little thing can affect so many lives and can help so many people.

[sanjayvdasari]

This current event was all about how one person started a site (Babajob) to help people, who aren't necessarily educated and skilled, in and around Bangalore to find jobs with the higher IT buisnesses in upper class Bangalore.
The entire article is basically giving out a strong point on hoiw big a role technology plays in development. It sends a clear message, saying that if the less fortunate poor people that vastly populate Bangalore (along with many other places) do not fully understand and utilise the many advantages of technological development, they will be left behind...far behind.
Due to sites like this, many people that would have otherwise handed their poverty down through the generations until there are almost no oppurtunities left for the family to progress any further have a chance. They have a chance at a better life, by starting a career, slowly, but surely, and moving towards a better tomorrow for both them and their family.
This is overall a good thing, and my response to this article is short and simple, “Keep it up Mr. Sean Blagsvedt

[sanjayvdasari]

Reply to Manu's response
-by Priyanka and Sanjay

Manu's article was quite good, except for the fact that Babajob doesn't only help those people that don't have good jobs to get jobs, but it also helps those people who do not have jobs at all to get one.

He also says that these sites should get spread to the villages, but where does he think the villagers will get the computers, laptops, or INTERNET connection to access these sites.

Also, we dont agree with his ending point that people who live in INdia should work only here, and no where else. They should be allowed to work anywhere they want and Manu has no right to apprehend it ;D. Otherwise, if everyone around the world would do this, then there would be absolutely no globalization going on at all, and that would mean that all the foreigners in India should go ahead and leave out country because all the Indians here need jobs.

[olivia]

dear Keisuke
I thought it was ok, but it had a little too many grammar mistakes and it looked like you did it in a big hurry. I also disagree about babajob sucking because its services are only available in Bangalore. Even if it exists only in Bangalore it still has a big impact on the poverty stricken areas. You did a good job though...

from OLIVIA and hisu...

[xxlyra]

We (Julie la biche, Nitika the queen of Genovia, and moi) think that Niru's reply was very insightful and had many valid and unique ideas. We particularly agree with that Babajob is opening opportunities to the poor who before had no access to direct communication with the employers.
The connection she mentions to the IT boom and growing industries is also well thought out.

Yay Niru! WE LOB YOU!!!!! : *

(the bean-Dean says hi.)

[rmanu]

To Julie,

your thought was not clear enough...
please explain with more examples. Additionally, however, we do think that you have understood this concept.

[zachghaderi]

keisuke said:

wow this article was ver interest
Even i read this article i really didnt get what was this Babajob really was, so i tried looking it up. When i looked it up it was based on for people in India to find their jobs.
However, this website is only be used in Bagalore which really sucks since Indian people who live in Chennai or dehli or other places in India wont be able to use this unique website.
These websites would help Indian's economy since most of the lower class people do not work and do not get paid that much. So by letting them see this website they would be able to get a good job.
I think that in the future these websites would be helpful to make India a developed country since with these websites people would be able to get good jobs.


p.s I love these types of article since im very interested in computer things and technology.

Zach and Asif

Interesting response. However, I do not agree that it would help make India more developed. Only underdeveloped countries have jobs that pay very low. You are right about people in Chennai and Delhi not using it, but the article talked about the website expanding to more cities and places around the world.

[rmanu]

To keisuke

We dont understand what you want to say and your explaination was vague. Although you have tried to understand this article.

[keisuke]

Your comment is very interesting because you used your own examples with the article. It helps and works. But next time keep the personal responses to a minimum.

Things to evaluate

1. Words like bummer does not suite. Use appropriate words.
2. Use less personal experience
3. Summarize in more detail
4. Give your opinion
5. Give supporting details. For example when you say expand in more areas, like which ones and why.
6. Think more deeply before you write your comment.

You summarized it effectively by using your experience but make it longer and add more detail


Sparsh, Keisuke, Jiyoung

[jozefien]

this is for Nitika we liked how you used a real life example and we were impressed by the story of the woman whose life dramatically changed by gaining a job on Babajob.This example shows how much research you did.

[xxlyra]

Keisuke's reply shows his enthusiasm for the topic and his great empathy with the affected demographic group of this current event. We agree (and we quote) that it "totally sucks" that Babajob is limited to Bangalore at present time, and we like the inquisitive nature of his mind to look Babajob up.

you know you love us! : *

Julie, Lyra, and N-N-Nitika!

[sarah99]

Hi Lyra!! We agreed with you somewhat about the part where you said, “this is not charity, this is business, but it benefits enough people for the government to be obligated to support them if they want to see more of alike initiatives,” but it is kind of a charity: it is charitable, because the founders of Babajob are not in this for money, they made it to help the less fortunate (they pay the internet cafes who allow the poor to use it). We didn’t understand what you meant by “think-tanks”, what are they?? AMAZING job, Lyra, on your insightful opinions and being first to write in the discussion forum….hurray!!! lata!! Niru and Sarah

[zachghaderi]

I agree with Mr. Hewett. I think that this is a great idea. Doing anything for the less fortunate can never be bad. The only thing is that it has to be done right. The idea of helping the poor get jobs is great, but via the internet isn’t. Especially with India’s caste system it will be near impossible for the poorest of the poor to even access a computer let alone know how to use it or know someone who does.

There is a flaw that ran across my mind though. If this website went worldwide, that would mean that more and more businesses would look into it, therefore bigger and bigger businesses looking for people. They will look for the best of the best to fill the positions they need. Then maybe the poor ones who are less qualified will get shoved out of the way and the whole reason the website was set up will be no more. It might become another “Monster” job search.

I do hope that this website does well. It would do a lot to help the common person in India.