UK: Job ad seeking Indians sparks race row

London, Mar 18: A job advertisement seeking an applicant 'preferably of Indian origin' has sparked off racism row in Britain with a full-fledged protest launched against the 'anti-British discrimination' shown in the advert posted on a British website.

The advertisement placed by a Bristol-based computer company, Torry Harris, for a 38,000 pounds-a-year post said, "The person should be a UK citizen with security clearance from the UK Government. Preferably of Indian origin."

Terming it 'quiet clearly racist' agitating demonstrators have reportedly demanded that the equalities watchdog should launch an investigation into the incident.

"I think it is appalling that applicants could be discriminated against in this way. It raises a question about the way some British companies are bringing in workers instead of recruiting them here," an IT consultant is quoted as saying in a media report.

The company which also has an office in Bangalore, India has withdrawn the ad but refused to comment on it, reports Daily Express. The job advert was posted on website jobsite.co.uk.

“This is quite clearly racist. I have reported it to the Equalities and Human Rights Commission in the hope for once that they might take action against something that discriminates against most British people," local MP, Conservative David Davies is quoted as saying in a report published on Thursday, Mar 18.

Recruitment agency McGregor Boyall Associates claimed that it was an error and nothing more.

“This was an error – a bad one, but the first of its kind we have made in 22 years," managing director Laurie Boyle said, adding that, “It was cut and pasted from material sent to us by a client in India. We have begun a review of all our systems to see what we can do to stop something like this happening."

The British jobsite has also promised action based on this incident.

“We take steps to ensure that only responsible advertisers can upload advertisements," a spokesperson for jobsite.co.uk said.

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