2017-08-30 Rejoinder by an alumnus to voxiitk

(Note: The following comment was posted by an alumnus to the Vox Article http://voxiitk.com/why-were-the-vh-staff-fired/, but was never approved by the online journal).

This is a one sided story. I would request VOX to also interview current VH-workers to get their side of the story. In any organization, one can always find a few employees who are performing below expectations. Does that mean all should be fired? IITK admin making derogatory statements about employees or quality of service without providing evidence is irresponsible. VOX should insist on hard evidence before publishing such comments. Not to divulge those details on a public platform is a cop-out and cowardly.

Most of the alumni and non alumni who have stayed in VH will vouch for the great service they have received. I have personally witnessed it. A sample of what VH guests have said about VH can be read on the following link: https://tinyurl.com/y9yg3j5q

What concerned alumni have learned is:

1. The new contractor does not have qualified people. These people do not even know how to set up a dinner table for an elegant dinner!

2. The new contractor asked one question in the interview, "how much salary you are making?" when workers said "min wages" they probably did not like the answer. The worker was not selected. Does this mean the new VH contractor has no intention of paying legal min wages to workers it hires? It appears that all interviews were farce. Those who were not interviewed have been selected. Those who were interviewed were rejected!

3. We have come to know that contractors at IITK are demanding Rs. 40-50,000 from new recruits as a condition to offer them a job. That may be the reason why existing workers are fired and new workers hired so that contractors may collect this easy money. We hope that is not the case with the new VH contractor. Hope VOX will investigate.

In an institute of national importance with a mission to, "inculcate(s) human values and concern for the environment and the society," inflicting misery on its lowest paid VH workers through mass-firing and possibly to mess-workers in future is unacceptable. We expect better from our alma mater. IITK should make it a policy that contractors may change, but all workers should be retained unless there is a documented reason for not retaining a few of them.