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Technology as Indian tradition

Anand Parthasarathy

Amartya Sen on IT opportunities

Mumbai: His was surely the most unusual presence at the annual summit of the National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom) which opened here on Wednesday: the first major keynote immediately after the inauguration by IT and Communications Minister Dayanidhi Maran, was delivered by Amartya Sen. His theme may have been far from the earthy concerns of an industry which measures its success in billions of dollars earned, but he soon had an audience of over 1,000 assembled head honchos, hooked. His message: Information Technology is part and parcel of Indian tradition.

The very nature of Indian society has tended to encourage and cherish technology. "Even the nasty parts — like the caste system — rested on a respect for traditional skills."

The Nobel Prize-winning economist quoted from Rabindranath Tagore's letter to Gandhiji's associate C.F. Andrews where the poet laureate pleaded for Indians to absorb the best from the Western education system of perceived enemies... something that has helped the country achieve its position in a global industry like IT.

"Indeed the mathematician Bhaskara told his daughter Leelavathi 700 years ago to study mathematics ... it would make her popular at parties, though, it seems to me to be a little doubtful."

IT has a huge opportunity to help not just with the physical but the social infrastructure and make India an equitable and efficient economy, Prof. Sen added. Since the industry's success "hugely depends on excellence in education, it had a responsibility to create the system for such education." He said that the underdevelopment of the Indian health delivery system was one area where the IT industry could contribute.

Coming as it did at the beginning of three days of hard-nosed appraisals, Prof. Sen's talk set a more humane agenda for Indian IT — and suggested, albeit in polite words: Think beyond the bottom line — and give back something to the country and people who made you success possible.

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