One of the few young members of the UPA government, Sachin Pilot -- Minister of State for the Department of Information Technology (DIT) -- has taken charge of this portfolio at a time when there are great expectations from the information, communications and technology (ICT) industry. In a chat with Leslie D’monte and Kirtika Suneja, the young minister broadly outlines his vision for the industry even as he's learning the ropes.
Edited excerpts:
How do you go about the task of sharing responsibilities in this ministry?
A Raja oversees everything as cabinet minister. Gurudas Kamat is a senior member and looks after telecom and I oversee IT along with Project Arrow, the flagship programme of the postal department. So, it's a team which requires collective effort.
So what's your vision for the IT sector?
IT refers to taking technology to untouched areas and making it palatable to all. So, people across regions should have access to technology-enabled quality services. We must make an effort to make the life of the common man easy and less cumbersome. Though the economic slowdown in many countries has impacted the Indian IT industry, IT can still be a tool to combat that. The IT sector is still employing people, and that is helpful.
Our aim is to connect rural India and, in three years, to have all Panchayats connected by broadband besides achieving a rural density of 40 per cent (today it's just around 4-5 per cent). My idea of IT is that a common man should be able to pay his bills and access his records, among other things. The concept of IT should not remain elitist or urbane.
How do you plan to go about this task?
There is a digital divide in our country and through the efforts of the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC), we are trying to brigde it by making IT more accessible and amiable to localised societies. For instance, our language initiative for making available free software will end this year when these softwares will be availabe in our 22 official languages. The rollout of 100,000 Common Service Centres (CSCs) by next year is another initiative.
Till now, 40,000 CSCs have already been rolled out. Another initiative relates to the interlinking of research and educational institutes through the National e Governance Plan (NeGP). These are backed by the government and are part of the objective to have all stakeholders on board. These services make the entire process transparent and the life of the poorest man better. However, the support of the state governments is important here.
The CSC initiative is a Public Private Partnership (PPP) one and requires local entrepreneurs. So local entrepreneurship gets a boost. For instance, there are popular services that were not envisioned before. The government provides the logistics support and bandwidth for these projects but it's the entrepreneur who is finally responsible for running the CSCs. We have discovered that most of those who run the CSCs are local graduates besides small firms that have take the task of running these centres.
But you surely need broadband for such services. Why is the government slow in responding?
Yes. You surely need good highways for passenger traffic to move smoothly. The rollout of broadband services can happen in 6-9 months keeping in mind the interest of all stakeholders. This has to be quick else most agendas will face some problems. Also, we have to make sure that there is healthy competition and the government is having deliberations on this.
But delays can affect India's status as an IT superpower...
I agree. India has talented human resources and that makes it a superpower. However, more than being called a superpower, we must also remain a superpower. With the (US and UK) protectionist policies, we need to remain competitive by moving away from commoditisation of services by offering services that the others can’t. This can happen by more innovation and training.
Another way of remaining competitive is by having a large portfolio of export destinations. We are looking at other markets like East Asia, Japan, China, Africa and Europe. The government is fully committed to ensure a conducive environment for investments, job creation and growth as IT comprises around 5.8 per cent of GDP.
And what about the hardware industry which lags the software sector?
True. The hardware industry gives more opportunities for employment of semi-skilled people. Hence, our focus is on creating a larger hardware industry. We are on the job.
On the semiconductor policy front, have we given up on the idea of having fab plants?
Not at all. The market conditions are important for this and we are actively looking at the policy to encourage players in this space. The global slowdown did affect the decisions of certain players as far as investments, which are very high, are concerned. But I see matters improving. Moreover, we have the technical expertise, so we will surely look at India having semiconductor fabs. If Taiwan and China can have these fabs, why not India?
Is the DIT pushing for an extension of the tax holiday under the STPI scheme?
The STPI was a fruitful and successful initiative and the government will ensure that growth takes place. It will provide all the legislative and regulatory support to ensure growth.
Where does the domestic market feature in this scheme of things?
The domestic market is at $12.5 billion while the exports are $48 billion. Requirements at the domestic level are different from those at the global level.
What are the other issues that you plan to tackle?
The Universal Service Obligation (USO) Fund is huge and can be deployed at in many places like hilly areas and places where the market couldn’t suffice. The roadmap for this is there but there are delivery problems. Otherwise, there were issues in the border areas for telecommunications but now, we have deployed towers on the border areas of Kashmir and the North East till 500 metres.
The draft rules of the IT Act smack of internet censorship that may not be all that desirable...
We are working on the draft rules and there will be a comprehensive legislation to explain the law and best practices of foreign countries. The laws are exhaustive and dynamic so that they can incorporate the latest technological changes. It covers areas like the security of strategic data, cyberterrorism and online fraud. Of course, we are always open to feedback.
