The IT/ITeS companies do not follow their own rule on this count, which is intended to enhance the brand equity the Indian IT sector enjoys globally. Most IT firms have failed to join NSR, an initiative by NASSCOM where an online database of the educational qualifications and skill sets of IT/ITeS employees is laid to raise the standards of security and safety in the industry.

Under the process, employees post their personal and professional details. There are a few companies that certify employees at the time of joining. Only 67 IT/ITes companies have joined NSR. Essentially, the NSR, which captures data and information that employees provide, scans the personal and educational details, employment history and biometric details that helps the employer look for a cleaner, brighter and smarter people.

Says Cognizant chief people officer T Sridhar, “As the IT industry spawns ever more attractive job opportunities, verifying the credentials of prospective employees has become imperative for inducting the right talent into the organisation. Most organisations are increasingly resorting to third-party verification of the credentials of prospective employees.”

With most big IT/ITeS companies ‘certified holders’ of NSR, it is mostly the small and mid-sized firms that have not logged into NSR nor do they ensure if their team members are registered.

“We are advising all companies to do the NSR checks for all new recruits,” said Dr Ganesh Natarajan, Chairman, NASSCOM and Deputy Chairman and MD, Zensar Technologies Ltd.

“It ensures professional background checking and ensures security and confidence but also reduce the background checking costs and hassles for participating companies,” he added.

Some IT companies have a different take with a number of issues such as privacy and lack of awareness.

“Also, the industry has an employee base of over two million and there are concerns about the privacy of data shared and other legal issues,” said an HR executive.