The Hindu : Business : Significant socio-economic spin offs of IT: Nasscom

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Feb 10, 2005

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Significant socio-economic spin offs of IT: Nasscom

By Anand Parthasarathy

MUMBAI, FEB. 9. Beyond the more hardnosed achievements of the information technology industry in India, a number of benefits have rubbed off on significant sections of the population. Releasing the results of a survey it carried out on the socio economic and human development impact of the Indian IT industry, the National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom) Vice President, Sunil Mehta, said for every person directly employed by the IT services business, 2.5 new jobs were created in areas such as transportation and catering.

Other industries that have benefited directly from the burgeoning IT sector include hotels (to the extent of 16 per cent); international air travel (18 per cent) and real estate (7 per cent).

Today an estimated 40,000 people of Indian origin from the global IT industry have returned to the mother country in the last two years — bringing a high level of expertise to the indigenous industry. One of the biggest revolutions wrought by IT is the empowerment of women and gender equality. The industry employs women to the extent of 26 per cent — higher than any other industry.

Government-industry partnerships have also significantly helped in creating healthcare delivery systems and poverty alleviation programmes.

The Nasscom President, Kiran Karnik, added that while the personal computer penetration — a key indicator of development, was admittedly `pathetic', the scenario was better if one looked at IT access rather than device ownership. While he was hopeful that the `lakshman rekha' of the Rs. 10,000 PC would be breached by 2006, he felt that telephone was emerging as an equally viable device for delivering citizen services.

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