Released on: April 8, 2008, 5:34 pm

Press Release Author: Dr BR Natarajan

Industry: Healthcare

Press Release Summary: Medical transcription is a unique occupation that forms a
very critical process in the US heath care revenue cycle management and this
milestone has integrated rural India into the main stream knowledge economy of the
country.

Press Release Body: Urmila Maan, a 25 year old housewife from a village close to
Pilani, Rajasthan begins her day at 5 am and attends to her household chores. By 8
am however, she is in pursuit of bigger dreams and works for SourcePilani - a rural
business process outsourcing unit in Pilani. The Urmila Maans and the 40 other rural
folk who work at SourcePilani are now the new faces of the Indian BPO industry.

"SourcePilani has added a whole new dimension to my otherwise routine life", says
Urmila. "It has not only taught me specific skills related to my job but also
enhanced my self-confidence. Today I enjoy a better social status in society and it
feels very nice."

At SourcePilani, Urmila Maan a 25 year old housewife from a village close to Pilani
services US doctors and hospitals by delivering medical transcription (conversion of
medical prescriptions from audio to text format) work. The Urmila Maans and the 40
other rural folk who work at SourcePilani are now the new faces of the Indian BPO
industry.

This Pilani based firm was established in September 2007 as a 30 seater unit with
the support and encouragement from BITS Pilani. Funded by the Goenkas (The Laxmi
Organic Industries Group), this venture is built specifically to tackle the problem
of 'unemployability' at the grass root level.

Spearheaded by Manoj Vasudevan, a BITS alumnus and the CEO of this organization, the
venture strives to impact hundreds of lives in rural India by providing employment
to rural folks, thus giving them a livelihood and providing them an opportunity to
pursue their goals and interests. The recruited village folk are given process
specific training free of cost for some months and then inducted as full-time
employees. Apart from this, everyone who enrolls undergoes a foundational training
that includes basic computer skills, Basic English proficiency with a strong
emphasis on soft skills.

"The idea largely revolves around empowerment of the rural community. What we are
doing is trying to build a sound and robust business model around it. The social
case and business case go hand in hand as far as SourcePilani is concerned and thiat
is the only way to envision sustainable grass root development", says Manoj, an
ex-employee of IBM Corporation.

SourcePilani has tied up with Truworth Infotech Pvt. Ltd., Rajasthan's largest
transcription house. The execution of medical transcription work at SourcePilani is
carried out in partnership with Truworth. SourcePilani currently has 20 of its
employees on this vertical and aims to scale up the medical transcription unit to
100 people soon.

"SourcePilani is the first rural BPO in the country to be carrying out medical
transcription work from a rural set up and the goal is to make Pilani a medical
transcription hub of sorts in Rajasthan", says Manoj. The medical transcription
training modules designed for the village folk were quite elaborate and customized
keeping in mind the rural audience. The training that included development of
listening skills, knowledge of medical terminologies, quick typing skills, and
quality assurance was imparted by Truworth. The path to this stage was definitely
not easy, but SourcePilani has broken all myth and shown that such a thing can be
achieved.

Each employee of SourcePilani can earn Rs 3000-5000 a month - a sizable income to
take back home considering the low cost of living in villages. This is indeed
empowered outsourcing.

Apart from this, SourcePilani also offers its services in the area of data
entry/digitization, back end administrative support, form processing, lead
generation and e-governance activities. It recently bagged a government project to
carry out all data entry of forms pertaining to the National Rural Employment
Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) being implemented in the Jhunjhunu district of Rajasthan.

SourcePilani comes at a time when the Indian BPO industry is being faced with
problems relating to higher operational costs and attrition. The recent survey
carried out by NASSCOM, the apex body of the Indian IT industry suggests that the
average pay scale of the employees in the Indian BPO industry has increased between
16 and 18% and that the attrition rate is anywhere between 50 and 60%. Thus by
tapping into the rural talent available, SourcePilani not only plans to position
itself as a low cost player but also plans to develop the most stable and nurtured
workforce over time.

"This is isn't philanthropy nor is it any form of charity. It's pure and simple
development", says Manoj. Each SourcePilani job generates as much revenue as 5 acres
of agricultural land. With 40 people employed at Pilani through this venture, he
adds, "It's analogous to adding 200 acres of good land in Rajasthan".

Proud to be a BITSian Manoj Vasudevan the CEO of SourcePilani draws his inspiration
from the mission statement of Dr KK Birla, the Chancellor of BITS Pilani which is
one among the top ranking universities in India today - to prepare young men and
women to act as leaders for the promotion of the economic and industrial development
of the country and to play a creative role in service to humanity.

SourcePilani is truly empowered outsourcing.

More details can be got from Pilani BPO Pvt. Ltd., Chandak Marg Pilani 333031
Rajasthan,India Phone : +91-01596-243300 Fax : +91-01596-243300
E-Mail: info@sourcepilani.com

About BITS Pilani: Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS) Pilani Rajasthan
which is one among the top ranking universities in India today has the reputation of
pioneering the online examinations for admissions in 2005 through the pathbreaking
BITSAT offers degrees in various disciplines presently at Pilani, Dubai, Goa
campuses and in the short future at Hyderabad campus apart from an array of work
integrated learning programmes for HRD of a vast spectrum of Indian corporates. The
alumni of the Institute are spread across the

Web Site: http://sourcepilani.com/

Contact Details: BITS Alumni Association (BITSAA)
Professor BR Natarajan, Vice President
Email: brnt@bits-pilani.ac.in
Web: www.bits-pilani.ac.in:12346/bitsaa.bits
Phone 91-1596-242210
Fax: 91-1596-244183