IT firms contest Dharam’s claims

IT firms contest Dharam’s claims
Unhappy With His Cursory Dismissal Of Their Demands

The Times of India

Bangalore: Chief minister Dharam Singh seems to have touched a raw nerve among the IT community. His cursory dismissal of their concerns over the slow growth of infrastructure has evoked strong responses from the industry.

Dharam Singh had in an interview to The Times of India published on May 21, said about the state of infrastructure in the city: “I released Rs 135 crore for road improvement. The IT CEOs are happy and have not come back to me.’’

The Bangalore Forum for Information Technology (BFIT) — an association of over 20 leading IT firms — which met over the weekend has expressed grave disappointment over the CM’s remark. “ We are still waiting to hear as to what the progress is — there has not been a single word from the government regarding the status and we were getting worried as to whether this has again been put on the back burner,” says the CEO of a leading IT firm.

Says Bob Hoekstra, CEO, Philips Software, “We wanted a commitment, but nothing has come forth till date. Even the plan we had asked for — outlining the projects that are going to be taken up — has not been drafted. So where is the question of being pleased and not getting back to him?”

Most of the IT firms are disillusioned with the way things are today. “The government said that there would be no truck traffic during peak hours on Hosur Road but there are always exceptions and you see so many trucks hurtling down that road,” says a software engineer at Infosys.

“Moreover, the government had said there would be re-tendering of projects. Till date nothing has been announced.” Even the Uttar Pradesh State Bridge Corporation has not really been disengaged — you see a whole lot of equipment lying around still. When is that going to be cleared?” asks J. Veeraraghavan of Novell India.

Interestingly, during a breakfast meeting, deputy CM Siddaramaiah had mentioned that over Rs 300 crore has been sanctioned for the improvement of roads. Now what is this Rs 135 crore he is talking about?

“Was this Rs 135 crore a part of that or is this all that is going to be spent on the infrastructure? There is no clear picture and nobody has any idea what is being done on the infrastructure front,” laments another IT firm CEO.