In the larger Indian context, IT industry is not relevant

Eminent personalities from different fields came under one roof to speak on relevance of IT. Here is a synopsis of the arguments on whether the IT industry is relevant or not.

The panel comprised Ms. Arundathi Nag, Dr. Narendar Pani, Prof. Sadagopan, Mr. Ramesh Ramanathan and Mr. Krishna Kumar N.

Mr. Subroto Bagchi was the moderator and he welcomed the distinguished panelists who came from diverse backgrounds and had varied callings in life – from arts, academia, media and the corporate world.

Ms. Arundathi Nag: She began by saying that she had no argument about IT not being relevant. She said that IT, in some ways, had defined a new caste system, in that IT professionals were the Brahmins as they were the ‘knowledge’ workers.

She said she came from a different world – of arts and theater. And that artistes had an errant gene in them that triggered their creativity. Her concern was about how the creativity was going to be fed and kept alive. She said IT was not about carnivals and festivals, but the ways in which it impacted our daily lives.

She said that there was a general perception that IT was kind of insular and impersonal. In some ways, it lacked warmth and the human touch. She added that there was a need to cut across barriers and reach out. She said there was a need for the IT professional to be culturally connected. There was a need for them to give expression to their errant genes!

She said that IT professionals tend to live in ivory towers, insulated from the outside world. They need a ‘reality check’ of what’s happening around. She spoke about the need to have more ‘cultural spaces’ and concluded by saying there should be an osmosis between culture, education and technology.

Mr. Krishna Kumar (KK): He began by narrating an incident from personal experience. He’d gone back to his home town in interior Tamil Nadu, to visit his relatives. There was this elderly gent who was managing their lands who was quite disparaging about his views on the IT industry. He (the elderly gent) said how the youth of the village had all left for the cities to become telephone operators. There was nobody left to work the fields. In the cities, they were being paid Rs. 200/- a day as against a paltry Rs. 70/- (daily wage) that they’d earn by working on the farms. Of course, by telephone operators, he was alluding to the BPOs and Call Centers!

And when he was invited to lunch by his relatives, he excused himself by saying that he’d an important ‘telecon’ with his customer overseas. Of course, they didn’t know what to make of all this and were intrigued by this rather ‘strange’ behaviour on part of KK – to decline their invitation just to be able to talk to a customer in another part of the world!

He came away from the visit with his right part of the brain (the creative/emotional side) telling him that, indeed, there was something in the rustic wisdom of the village folk that we were missing out on.

But when he paid heed to his left brain (the logical/reasoning side), his thinking was to the contrary. It told him that the IT industry was, indeed, very relevant. It had created 100s of thousands of jobs, was responsible for generating indirect employment as well and contributed to a large percentage of the country’s revenues by way of exports. In fact, the government had forex reserves of $ 114 billion in its coffers, thanks largely to the IT industry.

He continued in the same vein and said that he was being prompted by his left brain reasoning to reduce the ‘digital divide’ and that the benefits of IT should reach out to a larger audience and that we should produce more ‘citizen-friendly’ services through e-governance and other initiatives.

Dr. Narendar Pani: He started by saying that the topic was a kind of a ‘trick question’ that only Mr. Subroto Bagchi could have thought of (very subtly phrased), in that it was difficult to take a stand either which way!

Dr. Pani began on a ‘controversial’ note by saying that the IT professional was as relevant as a carpenter. He hastened to add that it was not his intention to either denigrate or glorify either profession – each one was important in its own space.

He spoke about the crumbling infrastructure and questioned whether the IT industry was important enough that the entire planning of the city should revolve around it? He said it was all very well to have a well-designed campus, be energy-conscious and sensitive to efficiency but we should also have the sensitivity to the city and country such that the benefits permeate through to everybody.

He spoke about the leaving the city’s growth to urban planners who knew better on how to design/build a city and that the IT lobby should not interfere/influence the planning process.

His take on the debate topic was more from an economist’s perspective and he said that this migration from rural areas and hinterlands to the metros in search of employment would take its toll on the economy; urbanization was not without its pitfalls and in some instances, the consequences have been catastrophic.

He shared some very revealing and telling statistics with the audience – about how the cost of education has gone up by a factor of 800 in the past 30-odd years. He reminded the IT professionals that they were all products of the subsidized education system that this country provided and it would bode them well to remember that they have a collective debt to repay.

He concluded by saying that we should prioritize issues and the need of the hour was world-class infrastructure that would help India earn its rightful place in the global economy. He concluded by saying that “IT was not as important as a city or a country”.

Mr. Ramesh Ramanathan: He began by congratulating MindTree on its phenomenal growth, way ahead of the industry standard.

He said that before he could get started on the debate in earnest, he had a couple of honest questions to ask of the audience.

He asked how many of were uncomfortable with Dr. Pani’s assessment. A few tentative hands went up in the air. Then he asked how many of us thought that India was a great country. Everybody raised their hands! And then he asked what did we make of our government – good or bad? Almost everyone felt that it left a lot to be desired.

He reminded us that all of us were responsible for the sorry state of affairs. We couldn’t blame the government entirely for the slums, the pollution, poverty and corruption. We all had a role to play.

He said that while we were getting increasingly economically empowered, were we politically empowered? He questioned that we all had a disdain for the political system, but what were we doing about it?

He said that it was all about a matter of balance – what is it that motivates us? We strive to be better professionals but don’t show the same zeal to be better citizens. And if we could bring about that balance, then, surely IT would be extra-ordinarily relevant to the Indian context.

Prof. Sadagopan: At the very outset, in good jest he said that Mr. Subroto Bagchi had an uncanny knack of putting words in peoples’ mouths. He was, of course, referring to the topic of the discussion. He said that the topic reminded him of the analogy of “not saying anything but to keep talking”! Of whether “the cup was half empty, or half full?”

He provoked the audience by alluding to the NASSCOM survey of IT generating 5 million jobs, both – directly and indirectly. Now, what was 5 million in a country with a population of 1 billion? He asked us to look at things in a broader perspective, in the larger scheme of things.

He regaled the audience with several humorous examples – about how it paid to write code, but paid even more to transport/feed/clothe and house the software engineer! He also broached on how with greater disposable incomes and purchasing power, the software professionals tended to splurge, sometimes on the non-essentials.

He cited examples of how Indians were looked down upon in the early 80s and the then US ambassador had derogatory and uncharitable things to say about Indians. We’ve since come a long way and earned the respect of the richer, more developed nations.

He spoke about how the IT industry had created wealth not only for the entrepreneurs and those whom they employed, but also for the country. He praised the good work – social responsibility and philanthropy – that some of the foundations (Infosys and Wipro, among others) were doing.

He said there was a need to bring about a balance; it was not enough for the IT industry to just grow in numbers and revenues. There was a crying need to be sensitive to those who were outside its realm. We must make sure that the benefits reach more people in ways that it empowers them and enhances their quality of life.

Prof. Sadagopan said that though we had the maximum number of festivities as a country, yet, we were not a celebratory nation. We should rejoice in our accomplishments and the IT fraternity deserves a pat on its back.

His parting remark was –“I’ve talked a lot, but said nothing!”