Too late on Y2K

If you are one of those innocents wondering what the brouhaha is all about, you are not alone. In the big switchover from December 31st, 1999 to January 1, 2000, computer users and experts are keeping their fingers crossed that their databases don’t go haywire thanks to the computer not moving to 2000 but reverting to, say 1900, or what has come to be referred in common parlance as the Y2K signifying the year 2000.

As of now, the government has no clear idea how many ministries, banks or other sectors have taken adequate steps to meet the March 31, 1999 Y2Kdeadline laid down by the Reserve Bank of India.

Among the so-called “mission critical” sectors, only the Telecommunications Ministry can be said to be “reasonably well-off” in its efforts to reach Y2K compliance, according to official sources. Other “mission critical” ministries like Finance, Civil Aviation, Power, Defence and the banking sectors are yet to indicate what progress they’ve made in their line of defence against the millennium bug.

Indeed, some ministries like the Power Ministry say they do not anticipate any computer glitches at all since they will not be affected by the Y2K phenomenon at all. This ostrich-like attitude has the rest of the government worried.

“India is six months to one year behind international trends in Y2K compliance”, says S. Ramakrishnan of the Department of Electronic (DoE)s’ Y2K cell. “But it is still not too late to respond to the wake up call”, he adds.

In India, the dubious advantages of having had very little computer penetration in the banking andrelated sectors may work to India’s benefit, according to DoE officials. “Our tardiness in PC penetration will be a boon”, said one official.

One blessing is that only a fraction of banks in the country have computerised their operations, and then too it is a stand-alone phenomenon, where the computerised branch is not networked to other branches of the bank.Additionally, frequent power cuts have meant that even the computerised branches of banks continue to have extensive paper records as a back-up.The chances of the Y2K affecting newer computers is remote as almost all computers manufactured after 1997 are Y2K compliant.

Most computer users use their personal computer as a word processor and are not into date sensitive work. For regular computer users, the Department of Electronics has the following advice to offer: Switch off your computer on December 31, 1999 and manually reset the date when you switch it on next in the new year.

But the belated and sudden awareness about the Y2K phenomenon hastaken scientists, computer geeks and average PC users alike by surprise. “I’m amazed why scientists were not working on this earlier. Did it just dawn on them one fine day, that the year would change and that computers would not be any wiser that it is 2000 and not 1900?”, said Ravindra Gupta, Secretary, DoE.

One explanation is that early programmers represented years by using just two digits, like 75 for 1975, to save computer memory. It could also have been a move to save labour. Imagine how many keyboard strokes could be saved if each time a year was represented by just its last two digits.

With a positive response to the advertisement campaign launched recently in the national dailies, the DoE is hoping awareness about the Y2K preparedness will catch on. The advertisements are targeted at small and medium enterprises, as well as vendors so that their products are Y2K compatible. The government has also made it mandatory for all IT products to bear a declaration on Y2K compliance.

The Ministry ofCompany Affairs has advised companies to indicate their Y2K compliance along with their annual audits. Auditors have been advised to look for Y2K preparedness and give a certificate along with the corporate tax returns for the year.

The DoE has also set up a comprehensive website, with hyperlinks with websites in the US and the UK to provide access to information on Y2K problems and how to tackle them. The website also lists consultants who can give advice and help companies or small and medium enterprises make their computer networks Y2K resistant. “Since the ad campaign we are getting over 5,000 hits each day on our website”, said Ramakrishnan.

India’s remarkable lassitude in coming to terms with the Y2K requirements contrasts sharply with preparations in other countries. In Washington, contingency plans are in full swing to meet the uncertainties of the Y2K transition in a big way. Computer experts have cautioned people to stock up on canned food and drinking water. Banks have advised clients toprocure paper back-up of all their accounts and stocks.

The US mint plans to print large numbers of paper currency, to meet the eventuality of a computer breakdown making ATM cards useless. US Treasury officials expect large-scale withdrawals of money starting days before December 31, and to meet this contingency in a society that increasingly has done away with paper money in favour of plastic, currency notes will be pumped back into circulation.

No such fears reign in India. As one official puts it, “In India, we are so laid back. The general attitude is that the uper-wala will take care of things, and so to with the Y2K problem”.