DC Metro Crash And Outsourcing—Questions The MSM Is Unlikely To Ask
06/24/2009
A+
|
a-
Print Friendly and PDF
As most of you have probably heard by now, the DC Metro crash was possibly caused by a computer failure. [Computer Failure Could Be Cause of DC Metro Crash Killing ]That news got me and a few others interested if the DC Metro has been outsourcing work to India or bodyshops, and employing H-1Bs. The reasoning behind the research is that when employers are looking for the cheapest labor they often get what they pay for.

In the rest of this post allow me to share with you a surprising number of connections. They could be all coincidence at this point, and therefore have nothing to do with the crash.

Several previous posts have been published concerning President Obama's appointment of Aneesh Chopra for Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and Vivek Kundra for Chief Information Officer (CIO). Besides their obvious ethnic similarities, keep in mind that Aneesh Chopra led a large junket to India in 2006 to promote the outsourcing of Virginia state jobs. Read the previous newsletters on these two appointments to see how both of them have a long record of promoting the outsourcing of American jobs to India.Chopra and Kundra are definitely friends of India.

The following information isn't in any particular order, and I think we should all be careful about what conclusions are drawn. Too little is known about the cause of the crash yet to blame any particular contractor so until more is known all of this should be considered circumstantial evidence. That said as a disclaimer, here is the stuff:

Primary contractor for the DC Metro is Optimal Solutions & Technologies(OST). Here is a link to the actual contract PDF

Vivek Kundra has many connections to OST. He was even on their board.

But that wasn't the only reason Kundra put Optimal Solutions and Technologies in charge of nearly 100 subcontractors eager for a piece of as much as $75 million a year in technology contracts.

And what about the role of Optimal Solutions and Technologies, a D.C.-based company founded in 1999 by Vijay Narula?

Though allegedly Acar and Bansal violated city rules by regularly meeting and talking, Narula said his company, which has about eight employees assigned full time to the contract, was powerless to detect such behavior.[Federal Probe Casts Doubt on D.C. Contract Reform Effort - washingtonpost.com,  April 6, 2009]

Remember Sushil Bansal? He was the one that was arrested and jailed, and was the reason the FBI raided Kundra's office. Acar has been charged with bribery.

OST is heavily involved in our transportation infrastructure. They even have an FAA Software Design and Development Services Contract. Vijay Narula is their CEO. OST's contracts are some of the most important in the nation because they involve public safety, and yet it's very difficult to find out where Narula was born—he is very much an enigma. Try finding his biography with Google, and get back to me when you find out something.

U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Awards an Information Technology Contract to Optimal Solutions and Technologies (OST, Inc.)
GRPA is another outsourcer that does business with the WMATA. They have offices in India, and perhaps they send some work there.
GRPA is a registered IT services provider to the state of Maryland, various counties, and other organizations like Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), the World Bank, and several Credit Unions, etc.[GRPA Web Page]
GRPA is considered a minority owned business, which gives them a large advantage over other companies that want to win state contracts. The company name explains their minority status: G.R. Patel & Associates, Inc.
Master Contract, Master Contractor Details, GRPA

Master Contractor Name: G.R. Patel & Associates, Inc. (GRPA) Minority Business Enterprise: Yes Name: G.R. Patel Title: President

Contracts to G.R. PATEL & ASSOCIATES, INC.(FY 2000-2008)
If you want even more connections go here—it's too complicated to describe: FBI raids office of D.C. CTO, Obama appointee

Some of the high tech workers on the WMATA engineering and computer/ITsystem have similar ethnic backgrounds. It is not known at this time what their visa status is:

Print Friendly and PDF