East is getting sunny

Even a child knows that the sun always rises in the east. It is a given fact.
But, the eastern region of the country has not seen this happening as far as IT
is concerned. The entire IT revolution in the country seems to have bypassed
this region completely.

However, the situation is changing now. The sun is finally getting sunny
here. Although not quite visible, the fact of the matter is that the situation
is changing, and changing for the better.

Nowhere is this more visible than Kolkata, the gateway to the east. Over the
last two years or so, it has emerged as a very important IT destination. A great
part of this resurgence is due to the policy which the West Bengal government
has put in place. And not just policy, actual action is also happening on the
ground.

The conventional wisdom was that Bengal had no power. But the situation has
changed drastically as today it is a net exporter of power. Not only power, the
state has some inherent advantages over other states. It has a huge pool of
talent to draw upon–thanks to some 52 engineering colleges including an IIT at
Kharagpur and an IIM at Kolkata.

Another strength is the rather low attrition rate, which is certainly not due
to supply and demand situation, but is due to the inherent culture amongst the
community. It essentially means that people are not really in the habit of
changing jobs for minor material inducements. This is pretty much visible in the
attrition rate amongst the ITES units operating in Kolkata, which is less than
half of the other major ITES centers.

Without doubt Bengal is set to take off as far as IT is concerned. It has the
talent as well as technology available. But all these advantages can still come
to nought if the overall perception of the state is not changed. It needs to be
vigorously and seriously marketed. And for that Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, the
state Chief Minister, will have to play a major role. That would basically mean
evangelizing the cause of Bengal.

Once that is done, the rest of the job has to be done by the state
bureaucracy. They will have to implement a single-window system, which should
result is less bureaucracy, quick clearances and approvals. In addition, the
state political leadership will have to keep trade unions under leash so that
there are no work disruptions due to strikes and bandhs.

Clearly, east has a lot going for it. The region, spearheaded by Bengal, has
all the ingredients for a top class IT destination. Now, all it has to do is to
cook a good meal by following the recipe.