Tech city banks on Kumaraswamy to fix the Dharam kanta

Tech city banks on Kumaraswamy to fix the Dharam kanta

The IT sector hopes that the new CM will live up to his promise of bettering infrastructure in Bangalore

Daily News and Analysis

Just the day when Dharam Singh turned his focus on Bangalore’s worsening roads, the ground beneath his chief minister’s chair slipped.
Singh fumed at officials for bad roads on the very day when, rival parties finished the script to bring his government down. The tech city denizens voted his 20-month tenure as a period of inaction as traffic snarls became frequent, roads turned hellish with potholes and craters and public transport failed to keep pace with the city’s sizzling growth.
Now, his successor H D Kumaraswamy, whose party Janata Dal (secular) was sharing power with Singh, has promised to fix the woes on a priority-basis.
“At whatever speed we can, we will go improving infrastructure,” Kumaraswamy, who would take oath on Friday as chief minister, heading the JD (S)-BJP combine, said.
The tech sector, which gives employment to one among seven Bangaloreans, is praying that the change in the government may well transform the software hub’s fortunes, which has not seen a large scale urban project in over a decade.
“The need of the hour is focus and commitment to solving some of the key issues on the physical infrastructure front and also gain confidence of the larger community that things will improve,” iGATE Global Solutions, chief delivery officer, Mohan Sekhar said.
Kumaraswamy, who joined his father and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda to attack the tech sector when it raised the infrastructure issue, now takes pains to explain that both he and his father are not against the new economy sector and instead support its growth.
“I request the investors, especially the IT and BT sectors, not to have any fears. We will improve infrastructure and provide all facilities,” he said.
“We are going through a period of political stability and congruence.
The comments from the new dispensation is positive, but they should draw short-term and long-term plans and implement it on time,” Bangalore Forum for Information Technology (BFIT) Convener, C N Kumar, said.
Singh, who belongs to Congress and Gowda, who remote-controlled the government were more focussed on the vote banks in rural areas, than come together to improve infrastructure in urban areas.
“We expect them to provide good governance and focus on development rather than internal nuisances,” Bangalore Chamber of Industry and Commerce Chairman, Anant Koppar, said.
B S Yediyurappa, the BJP leader, who will be the deputy chief minister, has assured that the new coalition would be “IT friendly…100 per cent.” Action, not words, is however the call from the industry.
“The first priority should be to fill the potholes, not just on main roads, but also those in residential areas,” Adea Solutions CEO, Anand Sudarshan, said.
He suggests medium term and long term action plan that includes completing projects on time and improving the public transport system rapidly.