IT row: attacks becoming more personalised, say leaders

IT row: attacks becoming more personalised, say leaders

The Hindu

`An essentially political conflict between Deve Gowda and S.M. Krishna has seen the name of Narayana Murthy being dragged in'

Bangalore: Three Congress leaders have sought to make up for the general silence of the party Ministers and leaders on the H.D. Deve Gowda vs. S.M. Krishna-N.R. Narayana Murthy debate by deploring the fact that it has become personalised and accusations are being levelled.

Those who spoke out are the former Ministers B.K. Chandrashekar and D.B. Chandre Gowda and KPCC senior Vice-President and the former member of the Rajya Sabha H. Hanumanthappa.

Prof. Chandrashekar, who spoke on behalf of the three, said that there was a pattern in the attack by the Janata Dal (Secular) Ministers and even one of them who was unconnected with the controversy, Excise Minister C. Channigappa had been criticising the IT industry. Deputy Chief Minister M.P. Prakash and the Finance and Industry Minister P.G.R. Sindhia had been consistent in their attacks and it was the latter who raised the issue of denial of jobs to Kannadigas in the IT sector.

It was regrettable that a clear divide was seen in the polity and the people of the State on the issue. The debate had taken an urban vs. rural dimension and regrettably the Government had not taken a stand. What was essentially a political conflict between Mr. Deve Gowda and Governor of Maharashtra S.M. Krishna had seen the name of Mr. Narayana Murthy of Infosys being dragged in leading to his resignation as Chairman of the Bangalore International Airport Ltd.

At the outset, Prof. Chandrashekar, who was Minister of State for IT in the S.M. Krishna Ministry, said that he was holding no brief for Mr. Narayana Murthy or anyone else in the IT sector.

On the issue of allotment of government land to the IT industry, the Congress leaders suggested that the issue of allotment of land to industries in general should be examined by a small group of "highly acclaimed urban planners" which should work independently of the Government. They also wanted Karnataka to give up the IT centric industrial policy. Mr. Chandre Gowda said that the issue of allotment of land to the IT industry should be viewed in the right perspective devoid of politics. Mr. Deve Gowda seemed to have got some of the facts wrong. He agreed that the debate had damaged the image of the Congress in Karnataka.

Prof. Chandrashekar asserted that land in the much-touted IT corridor on the outskirts of Bangalore linking Electronic City with Whitefield, did not go to the IT industry at all.

He alleged that some of the politicians and officials allowed the land to be cornered by land developers, most of whom were non-Kannadigas. Some of the politicians and officials even floated their own companies in that corridor.

However, Prof. Chandrashekar seemed to endorse Mr. Deve Gowda's objection to the allotment of 800-odd acres of government land to Infosys when he said that he wondered as to why that company should go in for the campus model of workplace rather than adopting vertical development. On the issue of preference to Kannadigas in employment in the IT industry, Prof. Chandrashekar noted that the diminishing workforce in public sector industries like the HMT had in fact hit the local people hard.

It should also be remembered that the Sarojini Mahishi Committee report related to employment for local people in Central public sector units. "Politicians should recognise the type of jobs in the software industry."