In last few weeks, we have heard a lot about the help of Rs. 5 Carore returned by the Bihar government. Here I would like to bring forth some of the not so discussed points about Bihar. We all have heard Bihari students qualifying in IIT and IAS but it is highly unfortunate that there is no major IT companies operating in Bihar. Here are some of the important points which must discussed in the business communities and all the drawing rooms.
Bihar has got immense talent in Science and Engineering which is the raw material for Information Technology company. Anant Kumar's super 30 is live example and there is a program produced by Discovery channel as well. Here my question to the entire country is that what Bihar will get out of all these. Would these talented Biharies ever work for their home state Bihar. They can not work for their state because there is no avenue for them. They are migrated from their home in search of job to Delhi, Bangalore and else where in India.
We need to compare Bihar with other states like Karnatka, Andhra, Tamil Nadu where maximum benefit of IT revolution is reaped.
1. These states are having maximum no of private Engineering colleges where as in Bihar we still have very less no of colleges. There is two fold benefit. First, these states will earn revenue and second there will be huge pool of resources.
2. With election debacle in Andhra Pradesh on Chandra babu's IT issue, there is a perception in these states that being pro IT is anti farmer and this mind set is still persisting in the mind of all the leaders across all the parties. Singur and Nandigram debacles made this perception strong.
The present government of Nitish Kumar also did shy away from doing any thing in this regard.
It industry does not require much land acquisition which creates mass protest in farmers.
Up till now, we were discussing about the problems only. In my view, things can be improved in the following ways.
1. As the law and order problem is no longer an issue in the state, Bihar govenment should now go vigorously for setting up IT industries. This will provide mass employment to all these talented resources in their home. This will also provide indirect employments for the lower section of the society like washer man, taxi drivers, eateries, fruit and vegetable sellers etc. The government will also earn huge revenue through taxes which in turn can be utilized for the welfare program for the poor in the society.
2. Cities like Muzafferpur, Darbhanga and Bhagalpur should be developed as IT hub in addition to Patna. There is a rich pool of talent available in these areas. IT companies will also have low operating cost and better margin in comparison to metro cities.
3. Make English compulsory in all the schools from class 1. Without English, it is not possible and it can not be revolutionized. For this we need to train teachers as well. Also make the medium of instruction in English for at least one government school in each district. Make at least one section in each class for all government schools where the medium of instruction is totally English. I am not pressurising anyone to study in English, it is totally up to the students and parents to decide which medium they would like to take up.
In conclusion, Bihar can be benefited by IT only when the following action items are taken into account seriously.
a) English medium education in all government schools with good teachers.
b) More numbers of private engineering colleges
c) Lucrative IT policies for setting up IT operations by big companies.
