NASSCOM comes out in support of IT.in boycott

Bangalore: Of crumbling roads & IT cos

Rediff.com

Information technology firms that announced a boycott of the city's annual IT exposition protesting poor infrastructure received support from National Association of Software and Service Companies, which said their concerns were justified.

Nasscom president Kiran Karnik told reporters that these companies were rightly concerned. "Some of them are very vocal and it's good", he said.

Some of the IT firms based in Bangalore recently announced that they would log out of the Bangalore IT.in 2005 slated to be held in the city from October 26 to 29 to protest government's "apathy" towards infrastructure woes, particularly the city's traffic system.



Even though the government promised to address their concern, so far no progress had been made.

"We would like to see a great deal more of emphasis on quick and immediate action to improve infrastructure. Bangalore has become a pain-point and it's affecting industries, not just IT alone," Karnik said.

Traffic snarls and congestion have become a perennial problem in Bangalore, where Development of roads and construction of flyovers have not kept pace with multi-fold increase in the number of vehicles.

Roads connecting IT companies in and around Bangalore, in particular, witness bottlenecks that is testing the patience of IT companies, an IT official said.

Pointing out that the city was an important destination for IT companies, Karnik said Bangalore "being not in good shape creates negative publicity. We have to make the government aware that it's a serious problem."

Karnik, however, hastened to add that Nasscom's stand was that both the industry and the government should solve the problem together.
"We are not in the opposition side of the fence. The government has been helpful. Its policies have helped the industry grow. We would like to partner with the government to solve the problems. We like to see much more vigorous action," the Nasscom president added.