Draft policy pushes rural IT initiatives in Kerala

The Minister for Industries and IT, Mr P. K. Kunhalikkutty, has released a draft ‘IT Policy 2011' document that pushes for setting up rural BPO (business process outsourcing) centres to tap skilled human resource.

The State Government is willing to provide hand-holding assistance to the rural BPOs centres until they become commercially viable.

GOVT JOBS

It has been proposed that Government jobs be moved to such BPOs during their initial phase so that they can continue to operate till they become self-sustainable. Certain Technopark-based companies have already evinced interest in setting up rural BPOs and more others are expected to join the bandwagon, the Minister said.

Steep rise in real estate prices, increased attrition and infrastructure choke-up are compelling companies to look beyond ‘leader locations' like Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode.

Rural IT hubs can help address such issues and smaller towns will become investment destinations in the process.

Emergence of new destinations will help bring more professionals from outside the State and even from outside of the country to work in the State.

MICRO IT FIRMS

It has been proposed to promote micro IT firms operating from homes even as major projects such as SmartCity and Technocity will be pursued, the Minister said.

This will help IT entrepreneurship percolate down as a cottage industry to villages and even homes.

More incentives are being envisaged for encouraging micro units to come up in the sector.

Special incentives will be given to MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises) for attaining Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) certification.

Due importance will be given for creation and improvement of world-class civil infrastructure such as roads between IT hubs, cities and airports on an ongoing basis.

The State Government will also promote incubation initiatives and make space available in IT parks for promoting entrepreneurship and creating jobs.

Special incentives will be given to SC/STs and women in the form of subsidies and loans at concessional rates.

Preference to such sections has been envisaged in the Technoparks and rural parks as part of the space allotment policy.

Labour laws would be simplified to suit the needs of IT and ITES companies through extensive legal reforms.

General permission will be granted to such companies for round-the-clock operations. A Government-academia taskforce will be set up for identifying knowledge partners to develop content for a new IT curriculum.

TEACHING FACULTY

Regular quality improvement programmes have been planned for the teaching faculty. IT finishing schools with a unified syllabus and standards will be established for enhancing employability skills.

A one-stop integrated Government call centre will be set to enable the public to interact with the government for access various services and to lodge grievances. The draft policy has been posted in the public domain to elicit views of various sections and will be implemented only after a fine-tuning, the Minister said.

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