Driven to despair

Driven to despair
Gowda plays politics with Murthy
The Tribune

THE resignation of Mr N.R. Narayana Murthy from the post of chairman of Bangalore International Airport Ltd is seen as a blow to public faith in the widely admired private-public partnerships that are forged to develop infrastructure in Karnataka in general and Bangalore in particular. Whatever little progress the Rs 1,300-crore airport project coming up at Devanahalli, near Bangalore, has made in the last five years, much of it has been possible because of Mr Narayana Murthy’s efforts in cutting through the red tape. His clout in Delhi and Bangalore is known. He is the widely respected face of India’s excellence in information technology and is a symbol of corporate propriety.

Globally, information technology is recognised as the powerhouse of India’s economic growth. In Karnataka, the state which has provided India’s answer to the Silicon Valley, the IT sector is viewed as a child of favouritism. Infotech companies have been allotted lands at less-than-market rates. Former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda, who has questioned Mr Narayana Murthy’s contribution and blamed him for the delay in the airport project, has often accused IT companies of land-grabbing and sought a review of all land allotments. Incidentally, Mr Murthy’s company, Infosys, has applied for allotment of 845 acres on the outskirts of Bangalore for its expansion. Mr Deve Gowda’s politics revolves round peasants.

Like Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka has witnessed lopsided growth. The surge in the fortunes of IT companies has produced a class of high-income technocrats, who lobby for faster urban infrastructure development, resulting in remarkable public-private cooperation. The rural areas, in comparison, are getting a raw deal. A section of the politicians blames state favouritism for the selective growth in urban pockets and the neglect of rural Karnataka. But it is silly to scuttle urban development to press for rural growth. Anyway, growth has to be inclusive and spread over to avoid rural-vs-urban political eruptions.