Most everyone knows about the explosion of information technology jobs in India. What most people don’t know who don’t live there is that these jobs are mostly confined to the cities, and that most villages have a lack of white collar jobs which causes their most educated and talented youth to leave when they are old enough to work. V.G. Bhat is a Landmark Education graduate who grew up in the village of Sirsi in the Uttara Kannada district but is familiar with the city of Bangalore.

Bhat knew some young people from Sirsi who tried unsuccessfully to find work there, and they asked him to see if he could help them find employment in Bangalore. Bhat knew it would be hard for them to live in the more expensive city of Bangalore on entry-level salaries. Bhat was starting his Self-Expression and Leadership Program, and he took on a novel idea for his project: If it didn’t pay for his friends to work in Bangalore, he would bring the white collar jobs to Sirsi. 

Bhat looked around Bangalore for a long time, and in the end he was only able to find one company that was willing to take a chance on an office in Sirsi–Onsoft Technologies. The office opened and soon there were 20 employees working there in two shifts. Each of the employees earns at least Bs. 3500 per month, which the youths say is at least as good as earning Bs. 10000 per month in expensive Bangalore.

To Bhat, this is just the beginning. He is working to expand the information technology workforce in Sirsi up to 100. Now many other villages are contacting him about bringing similar jobs to the countryside.

“The educated manpower available in villages and small towns is totally untapped and underutilized,” he says.

Bhat sees the idea as a win/win: Companies get lower costs, while employees get more actual spending power in wages and don’t have to leave their home villages. Time will tell if the idea catches on! For more information, look at press coverage of Bhat’s project here and here.