UP emulating AP and Karnataka

Seema Mishra


Lucknow

India is one of the few developing countries where the growth of B2B transactions, Internet connectivity rate, growth of private ISPs have gone up substantially. The success of IT in e-commerce has led to its use in running the administration more effectively and efficiently.

The e-commerce boom first started to take off in the IT capital of India--Bangalore. But Uttar Pradesh (UP) is eagerly following the example set by its counterpart in the South. As few states are investing millions of rupees in laying the infrastructure for IT policy implementation, there is much left for UP to think, plan, implement and act in this direction.

Heavy investment is required in the field of linking schools and universities, providing computer education till class 12 in every school, free computer awareness programs in schools in rural areas and pushing computer literacy drive more aggressively. Speed and convenience are two key advantages for which governments are approaching IT solutions.

However fascinating the technology and its use is, the government has to be extra cautious while funding capital intensive schemes because it is the people's money which they should get back in the form of elimination of middlemen or the third party, minimisation of corruption, fast submission of electricity and telephone bills through the Net and other benefits.

Chandrababu Naidu, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, showed that you could raise rice prices, cut subsidies and still be re-elected. So it is realized by the citizens that proper use of IT can help them in near future, more employment opportunities would be created, more openings in the IT sector for the younger generation are likely to come up, and this will happen only when private sector comes up with dynamic collaboration plans with public sector to provide expertise in computerizing essential services, such as electricity and water supply, running chain of schools, and linking them with universities through a high-speed network.

During the recent visit of Bill Gates, he addressed nine chief ministers of states on the potential of IT to improve governance, better known as e-governance. Ram Prakash Gupta, the former chief minister of UP, was one of them. He emphasized on bridging the gap between rural and urban India, and said there was a need to create software in regional languages. He also discussed the state's climate for future IT investment. He went a step further by suggesting that Gates help fund and set up a national center in Lucknow for development of content and software.

According to Gupta, this center would then help in expanding IT research in the entire country. Although there was no talk of any investment and no concrete agreement, but it was important to notice that the very first time nine chief ministers went to meet an IT icon, which proves that every state considers IT as an important driver for progress and development.

To bring IT and communication technologies to the desired level, the UP Government will have to increase its IT budget.


(CNS)