Ever
since I watched an episode of “Office” on Vijay TV, I wanted to
pen down (or rather key down) on how the IT (Information Technology)
industry is seen by others and by me. Perhaps, the Office serial is
not the only one to project IT-guy characters in the plot; there have
been movies as well. (Yaaradi Nee Mohini, Theeya Vela Seyyanum
Kumaaru etc.) The audience is made to believe that the terminologies
'Team', 'HR', 'Cabin', 'Manager' are prominently used ones (As
though these are specific only to IT industry!). When there is a
trend in the country, they hit the big screens immediately, and so is
the case with this.
For
the past decade, engineering in India has been synonymous with a job
in IT company. Its like how a SLR cam is synonymous with a profile
picture on facebook. So, as per the school of thought, you are
supposed to secure an admission in a college which is known for good
placement records, and you ultimately have to get an offer of
employment from CTS, Infosys or TCS in your pre-final year, failing
which you will be shown a “hmm...” face. When you hear from
someone who is a non-IT guy about the industry, he typically talks
about how tedious the job is, working late in the nights and coming
back home late, commuting by office bus etc. Frankly speaking, I
would not like to listen to anyone trying to sterotype the industry's
work culture in a tranishing way, and this is not because I work for
an IT company.
On
similar lines, I find that there are a few misconceptions. There are
a few who think IT professionals have a lot of
“Kaasu-Panam-Dhuddu-Money-Money”, that you can charge them a lot
for servicing them, be it autos, restaurants or tea stalls (I am
making a gentle statement here and not trying to criticize anyone).
Few others think IT guys are ones who constantly stare at monitor and
need to get a life. Such prejudices and assumed trademarks are there
throughout the spectrum. Don't we think all actors are super rich and
lead a fantastic way of life throughout? On the contrary, there have
been many instances wherin the 'rich' and 'fantastic' life has
actually been poison.
As
per a study, the industry in India offers direct employment to 3
million and indirect employment to about 9 million. Indians have been
naturally talented in logistics and computing and I think the success
of the Indian IT industry needs to attributed to this fact. As per
NASSCOM, we have crossed 100 billion US$ revenue. This also
contributed to about 7.5% of India's national GDP in 2012 (which was
just 1.2% in 1998). India is now seen as a major IT hub in the world.
There are thousands of americans in major research universities and
industries who are of Indian origin. (Needless to say, Sathya
Nadella, CEO, Microsoft) This apparently means that we have the
capability of propelling our growth in innovative fields in our
country.
In
India, there is a lot of scope for improvement on the e-governance
aspect. I sent a courier to my cousin in US through the Indian postal
department, and I find that there is no convincing mechanism to track
its delivery status. I had lodged a e-complaint, and alas, I get
calls from the department asking me if the courier has reached them!
While there is an apprehension that software related automations
might increase the unemployment, I personally believe that these
solutions will be an effective tool for governance. Government of
Andhra Pradesh had launched a good amount of e-Governance
initiatives. By e-Governance, I mean the reach of technology to both
the urban and rural India to bridge the gap between the Government
and the citizens. In the recent past, there have been quite a number
of startups companies, which is a welcome sign. India has a great
pool of skilled manpower which can be capitalised to build both
public and private sector promising companies in India to solve
problems concerning the nation. I wish to see India as a major IT
superpower in the world with all our dedicated efforts.
- Srikrishnan
