From academia: IT prof 038; minister Das to push Buddha146;s do-it-now agenda

Bringing back the talent is going to be one of his biggest challenges, but he is determined to do his bit

Unlike most new ministers, Debesh Das, West Bengal8217;s new information technology IT minister, will not have to read up his portfolio8217;s nuances or ask his bureaucrat-secretary if broadband is a type of hairband.

For, Das, 46, was a professor of computer science at the elite Jadavpur University when the CPIM decided to make him a minister. With a doctoral thesis on computer chip design and former students well placed at all Indian IT majors and abroad, Das doesn8217;t have to struggle with names like Wipro, Cognizant or Texas Instruments.

And nor is Das a political greenhorn, having been a legislator twice 8212;the first time in 1991, and the second in 2001, when Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee entered the scene as chief minister.

As a MLA, he did not ignore academics, declining a ticket in 1996 in between his stints as MLA to push off to Japan to do post-doctoral studies under Prof Hideo Fujiwara.

The last few days have been hectic. Umpteen e-mails have flooded his inbox, some reading: 8216;8216;Bring back the talent to Bengal.8217;8217; Das knows that bringing back the talent is going to be one of his biggest challenges, but he is determined to do his bit.

Das completely believes in the chief minister8217;s 8216;Do it Now8217; agenda. 8216;8216;Work culture can be improved only with the help of IT. We have to educate people about the good effects of IT and only then can 8216;8216;do it now8217;8217; be achieved. E-governance is something we should aim at so that there is employment generation in all fronts.8217;8217;

Das says that the exodus of IT professionals from the state can be checked.

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8216;8216;This is a rampant problem but nowadays there are students who are also staying back in the state because they have realised that the options here are widening. Big IT firms are coming in with high-end jobs. The employment can be further increased by generating high-paying jobs and for that foreign investments should be invited,8217;8217; he said.

He also plans to tap the huge network of alumni.

As a teacher, he often handed out advice and help to his students while sitting in coffee houses. Being actively involved in politics, he could not give enough time to his students outside classes. Realising that some could be bored by lectures on topics like 8216;8216;Design and Analysis of Algorithms8217;8217;, he allowed them to bunk his classes. But his classes were always packed.

Says Sumina Das, a final year MCA student from JU, 8216;8216;He made the classes interesting and hence missing them would amount to our loss.8217;8217;

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Das did his schooling from Dum dum Krishna Kumar Hindu Academy and graduated from JU with honours in electronics and telecommunications, and followed up with a masters in computer science. He earned his PhD from JU.

Das says that even though he might stop teaching now, he will continue to work on his research: he has to his credit 13 co-authored articles in international publications. A family man with a wife and a 10-year-old daughter, Das is an avid follower of football and reader. He also has his site, debeshdas.net His colleagues are gung-ho about his aptness for the job.

8216;8216;He is the best person to head the IT ministry. He is talented8217;8217; said Prof Sugata Hazra, professor of oceanography 038; petroleum geology, JU.