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Journalism of Courage
Be bold on hardware
So finally the cat is out of the bag, there is dissension in the ranks and grudgingly the IT task force is acknowledging that their action plan may have been full of gaping holes.
This is only logical because of the furore in the media and the industry about the excesses being committed through various clauses and lack of any focus in the others.
When the IT task force action plan report was released nearly two months ago, only a couple of voices like ours were raised against it. Soon others realised what was going on and joined in the chorus. Now there is a major debate on the report. It has resulted in the task force finally accepting that there was nothing for the hardware industry in their plan, nothing for manpower and nothing for content development. Also the sacred target of 3 million PC market in India by year 2000 established by the industry, the research agencies and industry associations for the last five years appears out of reach. The target appears to be shiftingto the year 2003.
The IT task force is now seeking more time from the government to try to make amends and complete the picture. The real danger here is that of doing a patch up job on an already shoddy action plan. The need of the hour now is to get an extension and take a fresh look at the entire gamut of issues which should have formed the foundation of the plan but were unfortunately totally left out. These include the fundamental problems that plague the industry of a severe software manpower crunch quantitatively as well as qualitatively, lack of Indian content on the Internet, a poor PC penetration and fault-ridden dial-up connectivity.
One of the symptoms of this fear actually coming true is the hurried way that the committee on hardware industry was convened. The background paper of this committee is out and is close to be being put in the official gazette with almost indecent haste again.
This paper again does not focus on the fundamental issue of asking for a 100 per cent depreciation oncomputers in one year itself which is crucial for the industry8217;s survival. It is also crucial for computers to really penetrate and reasonably for current technology to be available to the masses at realistic prices.
On the other hand it seeks zero duties on only components immediately while finished products would get the same benefit only in 2003. This would result in almost doubling the duty differential between the Indian and MNC brands and supposedly encourages manufacturing. Last year only 1,40,000 MNC PCs were sold out of a total market of 500,000, between more than a dozen players which means they sell in India in full one year what they sell in less than a day in USA.
In such a pathetically small market, this recommendation is going to again give them a handicap and if some of them actually decide to pack up and leave would not be surprising.
Like the IT action plan, this report is also only asking for sops and benefits while not giving any projections on how and where the exports will happenwhile quoting unrealistic figures like 10 billion worth of hardware exports.
We also firmly believe that India can make it in IT if things are planned and implemented properly and without vested interests calling the shots. This extension may result in either major correctives being applied or another self-seeking exercise. We hope the former is true.
The author is a director with Skoch Consultancy Services.
