Govt. slams J.D. Vance over his ‘indentured servants’ remark, Pg12

Key Highlights:

• The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) strongly condemned U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance's remarks calling foreign workers, including Indian IT professionals, "indentured servants".
• The U.S. government suspended the Permanent Labour Certification (PERM) program for eight IT outsourcing firms, including five major Indian IT companies.
• The affected Indian firms are Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Wipro, Cognizant, and HCL.
• The U.S. accused these companies of visa fraud and undercutting American workers' wages.

Detailed Insights:

• The MEA termed Vance's comments "unwarranted" and "deeply offensive," highlighting the historical and colonial connotations of the term "indentured servants."
• The suspension of the PERM program impacts the ability of these companies to sponsor foreign employees for permanent residency (Green Cards) in the U.S.
• The U.S. government claims the program benefited over 230,000 H1B visa approvals and 100,000 permanent residencies since 2009.
• Approximately 70% of all H1B visa holders in the U.S. are Indian professionals.
• This development further strains economic relations between India and the U.S., which were already under pressure due to stalled Free Trade Agreement (FTA) talks.

Key Concepts Involved:

• Permanent Labour Certification (PERM) program: A U.S. Department of Labor program allowing companies to sponsor foreign workers for permanent residency if no qualified American workers are available.
• H1B visa: A non-immigrant visa that allows U.S. employers to temporarily employ foreign workers in specialty occupations.
• Indentured Servitude: A historical labor system where people contracted to work for a set number of years in exchange for passage to a new country, food, and shelter.