The Hindu Business Line : Making IT work well

If Kerala hopes to attract IT investments, it should ensure the most stringent of standards - not just in physical infrastructure and corporate incentives, but also in internationally recognized core labour standards.

NOW that the participants of IT Kerala 2006 - the State's annual jamboree to attract the Information Technology (IT) and IT-Enabled Services (IteS) sector - are safely back home, sorting out assorted memories and business cards, many will be wondering if Kerala is, after all, the most favoured destination for their businesses. That, after all, is what the State government officials have been repeatedly telling them.

The latest Economic Review 2005, released last week prior to the State Budget for fiscal 2006-07, for instance, is especially enthusiastic: "Few regions in the developing world are as ready to embrace IT at the grass-root level as is Kerala."

That may appear somewhat exaggerated, but the message is clear: Come to Kerala, for its IT infrastructure, its educated workforce, its superior quality of life, its relatively peaceful atmosphere, its respect for the rule of law.

Yet last week, an incident in Technopark - the State's first electronics technology park and its showcase for upcountry investors, located in Thiruvananthapuram - took some of the sheen away from the claims of the State's spokespersons. Complaints about pitiable conditions in a labour camp inside Technopark brought both the Mayor of the capital city, C. Jayan Babu, and his Deputy, V. Jayaprakash, to assess the situation.

They found that hundreds of migrant families from Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, including women and children, were packed into rows of closely packed tin shacks, in environments that were bereft of even basic sanitation facilities.

The city corporation promptly issued notice to the labour contractors and the owners of the land housing the colonies, directing them to ensure basic sanitation facilities. The corporation's Health Department also entered the damage-control mode, dumping bleaching powder in the polluted areas and providing drinking water to the colonies in tanker lorries.

One councillor of the Corporation Council said hundreds of families were exposed to health hazards. "The conditions in the camps are so miserable that an epidemic outbreak is possible at any time," he was quoted in The Hindu.

What is particularly worrisome about the incident is that the buildings these workers were involved in constructing are meant for one of the country's largest IT company, which normally upholds the highest standards for human resources. True, these were not the company's own employees, but today's global standards of corporate social responsibility demand that all stakeholders involved in a company's operations be treated with utmost dignity. Any corporate entity that gives short shrift to social, environmental and human rights will find the going increasingly tough - especially in a socially and politically attentive State such as Kerala.

It is thus necessary for the State to tidy up its IT enclaves. After all, several companies are apparently keen on investing in the State. Tata Consultancy Services, for instance, will be investing Rs 2.5 billion to upgrade its existing training facility at the Technopark campus and thereby provide jobs for 5,000 software professionals.

Bangalore-based Infosys has said it will invest Rs 150 crore in three phases and raise its workforce in Kerala by 3,750. US-based business process outsourcing (BPO) firm Sutherland Global Services has also announced plans to invest over Rs 120 crore to create a service delivery centre and training infrastructure on 20 acres of land in Kochi. The company hopes to hire 3,000 professionals over the next three years in the first phase of its Kerala operations.

If these corporate intentions are the harbinger of a fresh flood of investments in Kerala's IT sector, the State needs to ensure the most stringent of standards all around - not just in physical infrastructure and corporate incentives, but also in internationally recognised core labour standards.

Incidents like last week's fracas in Technopark will only undo all the achievements that Kerala has notched up in the area of human development.

The writer can be contacted at kgkumar@gmail.com

More Stories on : Infrastructure | Random Walk | Human Resources | Kerala

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