Following the unrest in the city, entrepreneur Manjul Gupta who runs a leading beauty salon in Bangalore went ahead and set an example by taking care of the vulnerable NE employees in her parlour. Manjul, who has six outlets in the city, had employed about 300 to 350 beauticians and most of them belong to North East. Manjul made sure that her entire staff was protected.
“I made sure that they were picked and dropped to their localities in Bangalore. There were a few who felt that their area was not safe. Hence, I made arrangements to shift them to another area,” she says.
During the period of exodus, some even took shelter in the salon premises.
“In fact, for a couple of days, I provided them food and even got it delivered to their homes,” says Manjul, adding, “For ten days, could not concentrate on the parlour. I was worried about these kids, who worked day and night for me. But I still had around 8 to 10 people who chose to quit and go back to their home town. I did not stop them and I had to hire a few more staff to get the parlour running,” she said.
Now that the North east people are returning back, she is ready to take them on board once again.
“Of course they are most welcome. The moment, I heard that they are on their way to Bangalore, I told them not to worry and their jobs are safe. I understood what they were going through and I am glad they want to come back and work with me. I have always taken care of them during crisis. We have arranged all the facilities from our side. Bangalore is a secured place for everybody and I am glad that things have slowly come back to normal,” she said.
From net to Bangalore
The flow of people from North Eastern part of India started way back in the 1990’s. However, it gathered momentum only from the year 2000. “When I came to Bangalore in 1996 to pursue my engineering, there were only a few people from Assam. Now, all of a sudden, I see colleges filled with students from North East,” says Binoy Bhaishya, a software engineer.
Sudipta Ranjan Barauh, who is practicing law says, “When I came to Bangalore in 2005, there were no colleges in Assam that provided five year integrated law course. However, today many law colleges have come up in Guwahati.”
But Bangalore still lures them. Moreover, the booming IT in Bangalore played a prominent role in attracting students from North East.
Bangalore has the highest number of engineering colleges and some of them are the best in India unlike in NE which have limited number of engineering colleges. Another reason is the high cut off marks in reputed institutions. Hence, the only option for them is to turn south, considering that the Bangalore University graduates are absorbed by reputed industrial houses, multinationals and corporate sector.
“I came here to pursue my engineering because my cut off marks were not that high. Since, Bangalore has too many colleges, you are sure to make it into one or the other. Moreover, all the big MNC’s are housed here, hence you will make it to one of them someday.”
Although things are moving ahead in Guwahati and the city is claimed as one of the fastest developing city, there is still a long way for it to go as far as pay scale is concerned. Many made their return to Bangalore as they could not get the pay scale as it is in Bangalore.
“Once you are used to a particular living standard and money, it is almost impossible to manage in a lower amount. Moreover, there are no salary packages in North East which could match my Bangalore job,” says Ludumi, a beautician.
Agreeing to the fact in difference of pay scale, Dhilon Sarma, a security guard from Assam says, “Back in Assam, I was offered only Rs 2000-3000. But here I am paid upto Rs 5000- 7000. Besides, many facilities like free stay, PF etc are also provided by the companies unlike in North East.”
With things back to normal, we guess they have nothing to worry.