The Hindu Business Line : A wake-up call for IT

The column Vision 2020 - For a Win-Win Business Plan (Business Line, November 14) sounds a wake-up call to IT industry stalwarts to locate their industries away from the cities and their madding crowds.

Soon after independence, the government set up a large number of Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) to kick-start the economy.

Most of these industries were set up on the outskirts of major cities. Each of them had its own large township to house employees with necessary infrastructural facilities such as basic amenities and transportation provided at subsidised rates. Examples of these are Indian Telephone Industries, Bharat Electronics, Hindustan Machine Tools in Bangalore and Integral Coach Factory in Avadi, Chennai. In the private sector too, the TATAs set up their Steel plant and the township in Jamshedpur.

However, the IT conglomerates, that have sprung up in the recent past seem to think that their responsibility ends with the provision of jobs and attractive salaries.

Even when they do get large tracts of land on long-term lease from the government, they don't set up colonies similar to those in many of the PSUs. They prefer constructing hotels to accommodate visiting clients, instead.

Unless and until the government comes forward to set up the infrastructure required for such industries in remote locations, the captains of the industry in the private sector will not be interested in setting up their industries in remote locations.

Also, successive governments do not carry forward the good work started by the previous governments. Take for example, the much-talked about Export Zone near Nanguneri in Tirunelveli District. This was given a quiet burial after a lot of hype over its inauguration.

S. Iyaswamy

Nagercoil

Letters to the editor and contributions can be sent by e-mail to: bleditor@thehindu.co.in

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