Memo to Bangalore

But that view misses the obvious truth it is not youth or immersion in social media that makes for a good IT minister. What is required is a sensible public agenda,knowing where to allocate resources and what to encourage,and figuring out the light,optimal regulation required for IT and biotech industries. There are many urban,smartphone-toting IT ministers and officials who utterly misunderstand their mandate. For instance,Kapil Sibal,Milind Deora,Sachin Pilot and others who have controlled IT at the Centre cannot claim to have excelled at that balance. Sibal,for instance,has misunderstood the very nature of intermediary responsibility,asking companies to purge all objectionable content,ignoring the philosophical and practical hurdles of doing so. He may have softened his stand later,but the point is,he and his junior ministers persisted with a wrong-headed policy. Being suave,in other words,has little to do with understanding what is needed. In contrast,when V.S. Achuthanandan,the grizzled CPM leader,handled Keralas IT portfolio,as well as being chief minister in the last LDF government,he both broadened his horizons and made important changes for the state. He had once called IT parks an excuse to grab prime land,but as minister,he grew in his job. He embraced free and open software for public computing,set up several e-governance programmes and local language initiatives,tried to convert Keralas lead in literacy into a lead in e-literacy as well. The IT industry grew both in terms of exports and infrastructure.

A successful IT minister should support industry as well as have a clear concept of the public good. That calls for someone with administrative competence,mental agility and the right political instincts. It doesnt call for Steve Jobs,or even a smooth-talking,city-bred,smartphone warrior.