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Lukewarm response to Germany's `green card' scheme

By Mahesh Vijapurkar

BERLIN SEPT. 27. Though the `green card' scheme for non-European Union foreign nationals to work on the high-end aspect of IT in Germany was extended till December 2004, there has been no significant peak in such work permits being sought. Neither has there been a surge of applicants from India.

Germany's current economic slowdown is said to be the main reason why many placements for such jobs — and therefore, the demand for green cards — have not become possible though in terms of skills, the sector here is lacking significantly. Officials and industry sources say ``things may change only when the economy improves.''

For instance, some glitches in working out an elaborate system of traffic monitoring and collecting tolls — to be entirely computerised — on the network of autobahns across the country which is now free, are nowhere in sight though due on November 1 this year and have slowed down the intake of IT specialists. A host of such instances have acted as a drag on the scheme.

The green card initially did not find favour with the German trade unions when introduced in March 2000 since they saw job losses, countering arguments that skills lacking in the country alone were being imported by pointing out that the domestic academic system had failed to develop such capabilities. ``It took time,'' a top-rung Social Democratic Party MP, Sebastian Edathy, said, ``to persuade them'' to a different viewpoint.

A larger law for enabling migrants to settle in the country is yet to be finalised and given the contrary views of the Christian Democratic Union and the ruling SDP, there is less optimism on its getting through. But Mr. Edathy said, ``even if that does not take off, I think the `green card stays'.'' It appears that a feeling of xenophobia still acts as a hurdle, apart from fears of the trade unions.

Though widely seen as a country that believes in inclusiveness, there is an element of fear of the outsiders and the manner in which Turks have ghettoised themselves, with even their own newspapers, has only added to it. But sober commentators think that Indians are ``small in numbers and unlike the Turks culturally'' but admit that for these reasons, ``the green card did not go far enough.''

The extension till December 2004 does not mean that all those who come in are to work only till that date, an Employment Office official said. They are entitled to work for five years. It is possible that they can stay longer. However, even among IT workers already in Germany, there are fears that these are ``only short-lived'' options.

The `IT specialists temporary relief programme' popularly known as `the German green cards' was to expire on July 31 but was extended to enable foreign skilled workers to bridge the demand gap. Since the extension, some 400 have applied from across the world but the total has barely crossed 15,110. Only five per cent of the applicants are normally rejected for errors in first-time applications.

As of now, 4,072 Indians IT specialists have availed of green cards, making it the biggest number from any country with citizens from Russia, the Baltic States numbering 1,890 and Chinese and Rumanians accounting for approximately 1,000 each. The trend of Indians opting for this facility is likely to continue but the Chinese are seen as being poised to overtake Indians ``because,'' as one Chinese software writer said, ``we like the freedoms here. Money is not everything.''

Indian IT personnel here said that ``it was less taxing to work here'' because compared to the United States, deadlines ``are realistically set'' and life is far easier to cope with, except for the need to learn German to mix with the local population.

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