Social unrest has hampered the growth of Gujarat’s IT sector, says an IIM-A paper
Social unrest has hampered the growth of Gujarat’s IT sector, says an IIM-A paper
AHMEDABAD: The ghost of the Godhra riots continues to haunt Gujarat. Despite the government’s efforts to attract domestic as well as foreign direct investment in the state’s IT sector, not more than Rs 100-crore worth of investment flowed in before the IT summit last month. One of the main reasons cited for it is the communal tension that still hangs over the state.
This is revealed in a research paper by Professor Sebastian Morris of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, titled ‘Economic performance of Gujarat in recent times’.
“Many of the IT czars confess to having dropped their plans to enter Ahmedabad in the wake of the state government’s passivity in protecting the constitutional rights of its citizens,” the study said.
The professor had highlighted the issue in his previous research paper titled ‘Study based on opinion survey of persons involved in FDI process’ in February 2005. “ITES/off-shoring industries being educated labour-intensive (white collar in essence) cannot afford to be in places where real estate ownership and renting are constrained by imposed community and cultural homogeneity. This is evident from the fact that despite active efforts, no national pharmaceutical company has chosen to locate its R&D operations in Gujarat despite concessions and the locational advantage of being in the thick of the chemical and pharmaceutical belt,” the study said.
Having studied the state’s social fabric from a business perspective, Morris said: “No Muslim techie would like to settle here if he is denied accommodation in the newly-developed ‘yuppie’ surroundings of Satellite and Vastrapur and is forced to live in ghettoes like Juhapura, Navrangpura, Paldi or the walled city areas.” However, he believes that the situation could be rectified if the state’s political leadership addresses these issues and “makes a public announcement to ease the undercurrents of communal tension”.
But Raj Kumar, secretary of science and technology, Gujarat government, rubbished the paper as a mere figment of the researcher’s imagination. He said the government had never come across such “sentiments” from the IT companies it had interacted with.
Raj Kumar had a different explanation for the reluctance of IT companies to invest in Gujarat.
“The number of engineering seats in the state is low. Which IT company would come if an educated workforce is missing? But we are desperately trying to take care of the issue and the IT biggies have already lined up with big investments,” he said.
Despite the constraints, Morris is optimistic about Gujarat’s double-digit growth claiming it is probably the only state which is already achieving such growth, way above the Planning Commission’s expectations.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}