Chapter Two
PROSPERITY
THROUGH INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
In the
past few years there has been an explosion in the field of knowledge
and Information Technology. No country can hope to make progress
without the use of Information Technology. India has already made a
mark in this field, especially in the development of software. But in
the fast changing scenario India has to make a massive effort to keep
pace with the world.
India
has a great potential in the area of software. We are already
exporting our software to various countries but we can increase our
software export to the tune of 50 billion dollars per year by the year
2000-2008. But it will need a straightforward and enthusiastic
approach on our part.
To
really meet this Herculean task, the following suggestions can be of
considerable help:
1.
By the year 2008, IT industry will be contributing over Rs.
2,00,000 crore to the much needed foreign exchange and GNP. As a rule
of thumb, 25 percent of the GNP comes to the Government in the form of
various taxes. Therefore, the Government will get an additional tax
revenue of Rs. 50,000 crore yearly.
2.
IT industry should immediately be given the basic
infrastructural industry status because this will be the highest
revenue earner at a very low cost to the Government.
3.
To sustain and increase the development of IT industry in India
at INTERNET SPEED’, IT Ministry should issue 10 years INTERNET BONDS
for Rs. 2000 crores.
4.
To facilitate deep penetration of IT at village level and
especially in low-income groups and
in the backward classes,
100,000 new Pentium IVcomputers should be installed in schools in
collaboration with NGOs like Rotary and Lions Clubs.
5.
To be able to give latest IT training of the highest quality,
26 new IT Universities should be opened (one at each State
Capital)
6.
To facilitate general awareness and spread I.T. knowledge in
the whole country, two new 24 hour IT T.V. channels should be started
(one in Hindi and another in English)
7.
Companies like Earnest and Young and Makenzie should be engaged
to make two separate feasibility project reports on how best possibly
to achieve the target of 50 billion dollars’ annual export by the year
2008 and, if possible, to bring forward this target to the year
2005.
8.
The Government of India deserve congratulations for paving the
way for early review of the progress of IT industry towards the
achievement of 8 years target but as we live in INTERNET AGE, it is
necessary to prepare and issue quarterly progress reports in this
regard as per the international standard practice in this
field.
9.
As it is going to become the most important segment of our
economy, the year 2003 should
be declared as the IT Year to bring
awareness of India’s commitment to IT industry in the international
arena as well as to the people at the grass root level in
India.
10.
It is suggested that the Prime Minister should make a trip to
the following 5 cities in order to augment India’s potential in the
field of technology :
(i)
SAN JOSE (Silicon Valley)
(ii)
Tel Aviv (Israel)
(iii)
Geneva (Switzerland-on the French side)
(iv)
New York (Silicon ALLY)
(v)
Boston, U.S.A.
Seminars should
also be arranged during his stay in these cities. This will persuade
IT entrepreneurs there to come to India and set up their IT units
here.
11.
50 new IT parks should be developed all over India and IT
Ministry should provide free earth stations and free T-3 connections
for 5 years to all these parks (including other existing IT parks in
India.)
12.
To augment sense of nationalism among Indians and promote Hindi
and other major regional languages, Ministry of IT should fund
development of optical character reading (OCR) software in all these
languages. This will encourage local talents in this sector in a big
way.
13.
To facilitate new research in India IBM should be given a
contract to put all patents and trade marks with complete details on
the Internet and on CD Rom. (The present author has spoken to the
person in-charge of developing similar facility for US Government
where they have put 8 million US patents on the Internet under
www.ibm.com/patents. They have informed him that they will do this job
for India only for one and a half million dollars and this server will
be based in New Delhi).
14.
100 major books on computer softwares should be published in
India in Hindi and other major local languages and should be sold at a
highly subsidised rates, so that even a poor student can benefit from
this knowledge. We should learn from Geeta Press Gorakhpur and B. Jain
Publishes as to how they are able to publish books at such a low
cost.
15.
1000 softwares should be selected from international market and
their rights should be purchased for India and these software should
be made available at a bare cost of Rs. 100/- each and Ministry of IT
should provide funds for the development of basic softwares which are
important to the nation.
16.
Ministry of IT should take up the task and make CD Roms of all land and building
records in India and also put them on the INTERNET.
17.
Details of all cities and villages should be put on CD Rom. A similar CD Rom is
already available for U.S.A.
18. A
CD Rom should be made
with ID Card details of each citizen of India. This would be helpful
to Government agencies. They would be able to check and stop issuance
of fake and duplicate passports and ration cards in the
country.
19. A
vast INTERNET set up with fire walls should be created in all Central
Ministries in New Delhi. This will keep inter-Ministerial
communication and dialogue instant and secured.
20.
Except for software, the complete IT field should have the
uniform custom-import duty of 10 per cent to facilitate the vast
development of IT industry in India.
21.
Ministry of IT should institute prizes and medals on national
and state levels for the best software developers.
The
implementation of the above programme is not possible without the
joint effort of various bodies and individuals. But the Government of
India should take the initiative and seek assistance at various levels
from different agencies and NGOs. The Golden India Foundation will be
willing to extend a hand of friendship and cooperation in implementing
free of charge all the 21 projects which are of utmost national
importance.
A Plan
for the utilization of funds generated through proposed Internet Bonds
is given here :
How the funds received through proposed internet bonds will be
utilized.
(Rs. in
crores)