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ICTs and Indian Economic
Development
A book, however, should be judged by what it is, not what it should be. The book’s strength is the writers who have chosen a less frequented, but significant area for exploration. They focus on new technology’s bearing on the economy, how infrastructure is inadequate to sustain the growth momentum, how work conditions are changing—particularly favourably for women—and, of course, how we are faring vis-`E0-vis China. While the introduction makes an inspiring reading and promises a lot, the subsequent chapters prove a disappointment. That is because the book is a collection of papers presented at a conference on "ICTs and Indian Development" held at Bangalore in December, 2002. The ICTs, for the uninitiated, stands for information and communication technologies. Not just in the title, abbreviations dot the book, which along with tables, figures and statistics make a dry reading. That is how experts usually work, unable to break free from jargon. Academics and students, used to tedious writings, may find it less taxing. While the title promises a broad canvas, the actual offering is restrictive in nature. There is a chapter, which raise an innocuous question like "Has the new economy created wealth?" One chapter is devoted to the "role of ICT in the development of the Indian stock market". Another one examines the "political economy of the computer software industry in Bangalore". The writer notes "the qualitative changes the industry has undergone in Bangalore", but stops short of touching the buildup of socio-political, urban-rural confrontation outside Bangalore with politicians like Deve Gowda stoking rural anger against the urban elite. Social scientists and technocrats will have to study seriously the phenomenon of digital divide, whether technology is dividing society and contributing to existing inequalities. One Chinese writer in the book takes up the issue, but his analysis relates to China. Amidst millions struggling for basics like clean water, sanitation, education and healthcare, there has come up in India a class of high-income professionals, very articulate in making demands on the state’s resources for their own/corporate advantage, but cut off from the social/economic reality outside their office. It is in their own interest to go beyond technological innovations, wealth creation and personal growth, and take up more seriously the corporate social agenda. Dr Kamal Munir, who teaches strategy and policy at Cambridge University, has reached the conclusion after a study that it is the rich and the middle class that have benefited from India’s IT boom. When confronted with the finding, the IT industry’s most respected representative and Infosys Chairman, Mr N.R. Narayana Murthy, said "...technology is about reducing cost, improving productivity and bringing comfort to people. Who needs that more than the poor?" |
THIS book raises
important, so-far largely unaddressed issues arising out of the IT
revolution and India’s global recognition as an economic power. But
don’t expect the contributors to show the way how technology can be
used for mundane problems like rural development, citizen empowerment,
loosening government controls through e-governance, how technology can
provide tele-education and tele-medicine or ease economic pressures on
individuals and how to prepare them for the present rapid change as has
been done earlier by Alvin Tofler’s Future Shock.