[India] IT Bill will facilitate e-governance,

["Irfan Khan" <KhanIA@super.net.pk>]

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Date sent:      	Thu, 25 May 2000 22:32:18 +0500
From:           	Frederick Noronha <fred@GOA1.DOT.NET.IN>
To:             	CYBERCOM@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU


IT Bill will facilitate e-governance, e-commerce: Mahajan

by Suman Guha Mozumder, India Abroad News Service

New York, May 25 - Information Technology (IT) Minister Pramod Mahajan
said here that the passing of the IT Bill by the Indian Parliament
would facilitate e-commerce and e-governance rather than hinder it.

There had been questions in the past as to why the government has to
come into the IT sector, but definitely there is a role for the
government, he said at a seminar here.

"There has to be a dispute-settling mechanism and now (with the
passage of the bill) e-commerce and e-governance have got legal
sanction in India," he said.

About 140 people, including CEOs of IT companies, attended the seminar
'India: Your Infotech Partner'. It was also addressed by Dewang Mehta,
president of the National Association of Software and Service
Companies (NASSCOM), Howard Rubin, professor and chair of the
Department of Computer Science, Hunter College, City University of New
York, and Andy Skov, co-head, emerging markets equity, Morgan Stanley
Dean Witter.

Mahajan said one of India's major strengths was its democracy, its
vibrant press and its independent judiciary. "Sometimes some people
have complained about restrictions imposed by the judiciary," he said.
"There may have been problems, but one thing you must understand is
that the brakes of a car enable it to go fast."

Mahajan said for investors today there were other destinations as well
and there were debates about which destination to go to. "It is true
that there are some one-way destinations but if you have problems,
there is no exit from there," Mahajan said, apparently alluding to
China. "But in India, it is different and a classic example of that is
Enron," he added.

He said in India today, the system had undergone tremendous changes
where ministers were virtually going to industries seeking help and
advice and not the other way round. "Like in the U.S., we are creating
in India today a government which is a friend of the people," Mahajan
said.

In response to an earlier remark by Skov that the development of
India's telecom sector had been constrained by legal and regulatory
bindings, Mahajan admitted that there had been problems in the sector.
"But at the same time we have been solving those problems," he said.

"Infotech and telecom have the same relation as the one between mind
and body. As they say in India, one cannot exist without the other,"
Mahajan said. In this connection, he noted that India allowed 49 per
cent foreign direct investment in telecom, something that not many
countries did.

Mahajan said in the next couple of years an estimated 350 million
people in India "will be connected" and thus investors have tremendous
market opportunities besides having a friendly government and a huge
pool of talent.

"There is a new India in the building that you may not be knowing. It
is not the land of snake charmers any more but mouse users and most
sophisticated computer centres," he said.

Mahajan said he did not see IT merely as a business venture, but as
the fourth generation of human communications and his job was to
bridge the gap between generations and ensure the fruits of technology
reached the people.

"In the next 10 years, India will change dramatically and with
information technology we will solve all our problems," he said.
Earlier, NASSCOM's Mehta presented a panoramic view of India's
infotech industry, its strengths and merits as well as its potential
for future growth.

<...>


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