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IT has failed to help the common man: experts
IT has failed to help the common man: experts
PTI[ MONDAY, JANUARY 20, 2003 09:32:46 AM ]
NEW DELHI: Though more developments are happening in the field of
information technology in India compared to the rest of the world put
together, its benefits have failed to trickle down to ordinary
people, say IT experts.
"It is beyond doubt that there has been an extraordinary success of
IT industry in India but all tall claims of providing its benefits to
the common man have come to naught," contends Professor Kenneth
Keniston, director of MIT Indian Programme, Massachusetts Institute
of Technology, US.
Even in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, apart from Bangalore and
Hyderabad, the situation is no different from other parts of the
country, he said.
The notions that exports of handicrafts from rural areas through e-
commerce would alleviate poverty is an illusion, he says pointing out
that the first impediment to such a scheme is the prohibitive cost of
a computer.
"Besides, the lucrative markets of Osaka, Paris and Stockholm are
high-end ones and are already saturated," Keniston claimed.
"E-governance is not a panacea," he added saying it may brag of
rooting out social injustice and corruption but the reality is the
common man still confronts these evils at various levels of
governance.
"The problems of government cannot be solved only through simple
computerising," Keniston said.
Acknowledging Keniston's viewpoint, Professor P V Indiresan from the
Centre for Policy Research said, for the success of an IT project
targeted at the masses, an amalgam of business and technology is
imperative.
It is a pity that very few Indian researchers are also bold
entrepreneurs, he said.
"It is the lack of this quality that has plagued the Simputer
(portable, hand-held, inexpensive computer developed by scientists at
the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore) from being available in
the Indian market," he lamented.
"The team which has developed the device is ingenious but has a
complete lack of marketing strategies," he added.
Keniston argues that for a project aimed at the masses to become
successful in a diverse and populous country like India it has to
adapt to the particular requirements of the area.
"Another key factor in such projects is sustainability, which is
increasingly discussed but rarely achieved."
India has more NGOs than any other country and "initially these NGOs
and state governments pump money into pilot projects but later they
get tired with the result the projects get stalled," he added.
"Rural IT projects lack management skills and are generally centered
around a single person. The success or failure of the project thus
depends on one individual," pointed out Indiresan.
Tele-connectivity is no doubt important but it is not a substitute
for physical connectivity, he added. Spending even one-third or one-
fourth of the total budget for rural development on this aspect will
go a long way in aiding the success of IT projects for the masses.
However, lending a silver lining, K C Kajaria, a businessman, says
"developments in the software industry may not have revolutionised
the common man's life but installing computers at the railway
counters and banks have to a large extent finished corruption in
these fields."
source:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/html/uncomp/articleshow?ar
tid=34939191
