The decision taken by the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) to divide Andhra Pradesh has found an echo in the Information Technology sector. The political uncertainty over the future status of Hyderabad is causing concern to the IT sector, a major growth engine that put the city on the global IT map.
In the midst of the turmoil over the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh with Hyderabad becoming the bone of contention, software employees in the city have come together and formed a Joint Action Committee (JAC) to strive towards bringing back the glory of Hyderabad as an IT hub.
“Brand Hyderabad” has clearly lost its sheen in recent times due to political uncertainties, agitations and counter-agitations. Following the deterioration in the image of the Capital, the Hyderabad IT Employees’ JAC has adopted a slogan “Save IT, save Hyderabad” and appealed to all the political parties not to tarnish the city’s image further. “Otherwise the city will disappear from the global IT map and future generations will suffer,” cautioned JAC Chairman M Brahmaiah.
Hyderabad is home to about 750 IT and ITES companies, including global giants like Microsoft, Google, IBM, Oracle, DELL, Motorola and Deloitte, employing over 250,000 people. The city is ranked fourth in the country in terms of software exports.
However, IT professionals say that the state had to pay a heavy price since 2009 due to political agitations. “The IT exports from the state, which was over Rs310 billion, in 2008-09, dipped to Rs270.6 billion in the next financial year. There was a slight increase in the subsequent years as the industry felt confident that normalcy would be restored,” said JAC convener N Raju. The latest exports figure stood at Rs300 billion.
The neighbouring states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra, meanwhile, have benefitted from Hyderabad’s woes. Tamil Nadu’s IT exports grew from Rs380.3 billion in 2008-09 to over Rs490 billion in 2011-12, Karnataka’s from Rs700.3 billion to Rs820.1 billion and Maharashtra’s from Rs420.3 billion to Rs460.2 billion.
The JAC has also decided to launch ITism — IT in social media – to bring awareness among IT professionals and also the common public about the need to protect the interests of the industry in the city.
The rate of new recruitment has also sunk to 10,000 a year from the earlier 30,000-40,000. The JAC will hold a round-table conference inviting top brass of the city-based IT firms and prepare a report containing their views on improving the situation. It will also meet the State Governor E S L Narasimhan, Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, IT Minister P Lakshmaiah and Leader of the Opposition and TDP President N Chandrababu Naidu in this regard.
The JAC leaders wanted the centre to take immediate steps to remove the sense of insecurity prevailing among the IT professionals in the city.
source: http://www.khaleejtimes.com / Khaleej Times / Home> International / by P S Jayaram, news@khaleejtimes.com / August 28th, 2013