Trouble is brewing in the IT sector of North Karnataka against IT-BT biggies Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw and TV Mohandas Pai for their ‘harsh’ comments against IT-BT minister SR Patil.
The duo had said the portfolio should have been given to a ‘young’ legislator. IT-BT czars also floated names of Krishna Byregowda and Dinesh Gundurao for the portfolio, the ‘initiative’ triggering serious displeasure in North Karnataka as Patil hails from Bagalkot in the region.
Convenor of Karnataka Jan Sahitya Sanghatane and writer Basavaraj Sulibhavi termed it as a clear instance of underestimating the talents of rural India by corporate interests.
“As SR Patil is from a rural area and an undergraduate, the business world thinks that he is not capable for the post. Moreover, the IT-BT sector has never shown concern towards NK region in the state. In fact, they have divided the state between the rich and the poor,” he said.
Former MLA Jnanadev Doddameti said Pai and Shaw were just representatives of such a lobby.
“All our governments, irrespective of the party in power, have been influenced by such anti-people lobbies like liquor, educational institutions and mining in recent years,” he said.
Doddameti pointed out that the age factor was not raised when SM Krishna and Katta Subramanya Naidu handled the same portfolio. “Bangalore-based business people have harbour a superiority complex towards NK people,” he contended.
PM Veeresh Sharma, a young entrepreneur in Hubli who worked for seven years with a BT company in Bangalore, said there was a disparity towards candidates who did not hail from Bangalore.
“Such discriminations are not seen in multinational companies. But wherever Bangalore-based bosses are there, they surely underestimate candidates hailing from outside the state capital,” he alleged.
Ravi S (name changed), who worked for three years at Shaw-owned Biocon Limited, recalled that he was questioned about his communication skill in English during the interview.
“After seeing my surname, the interviewer had said that NK candidates would be weak in communication skills. However, I proved my efficiency and refuted his opinion,” he recalled.
Gopalkrishna, who runs an employment bureau in Hubli, continued, “Candidates, however, are proving their capacity in recent years and getting appointed in large numbers.”
Veteran writer Shamsundar Bidarkundi said ministers handling IT-BT portfolios in Japan and China would be zero in English. “Our industrialists should understand that sincerity and hard work, rather than any language, would bring fruitful results for any company.”
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