Job ad seeking someone of Indian origin sparks race row in UK

18 Mar 2010, 1800 hrs IST, PTI

LONDON: An advertisement by a British IT firm seeking someone "preferably of Indian origin" has sparked a racism row in the UK.

The advertisement, which appeared on a popular recruitment website, was placed on behalf of a Bristol-based computer company, Torry Harris, which has bases in Britain and India.

The advertisement reads: "Minimum six years of experience in IT. The person should be a UK citizen with security clearance from the UK Government. Preferably of Indian origin."

According to a report in the Daily Mail, the advertisement was removed last night from jobsite.co.uk as the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) launched an investigation.

The advertisement for the 38,000 pounds a year job was spotted by IT consultant Vince Silva of Chepstow, Gwent.

He said: "I have never seen a recruitment advert like this before, and think it is appalling job applicants could be discriminated against in this way.

"It raises a wider question about the way in which some big companies in Britain are bringing in IT workers from abroad instead of recruiting them here."

Torry Harris has declined to comment, but the EHRC said: "It is unlawful to discriminate against a job applicant on the basis of their nationality. We will be looking into the matter."

More: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/5698576.cms

...who spoke Hindi?
Of course, they should have said so, if that was the case...

had to be able to travel to India and had to be fluent in Hindi?

That's a great way to displace/fire a worker since it would take a few years study lone to be fluent in another language.

Corporations are really bastards.