PROSPECTUS LAUNCH: NASSCOM president Kiran Karnik, Science and Technology Minister Ramachandra Gowda, Raman International Institute of Information Technology CEO S.V. Venkatesh, and Vice-Chancellor of Mysore University J. Shashidhara Prasad at the in auguration of IT Finishing School in Bangalore on Wednesday. — Photo: Sampath Kumar G.P.

BANGALORE: The present three lakh annual manpower requirement of IT and IT-enabled service industries will go up to five lakh a year in five years, according to Kiran Karnik, president, National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM).

Speaking after inaugurating Mysore-based Raman International Institute of Information Technology's IT Finishing School here on Wednesday, Mr. Karnik said, of the five lakh, the requirement of trained engineers itself is about three lakh.

It is high time that the required manpower is trained by private participation, he said.

The IT sector today has huge constraints in relation to supply of human resources, Mr. Karnik said and underlined the need for a concerted effort by all stake-holders to bridge the gap.

Therefore, the education sector should be opened up to private players on the lines of the health sector.

He said the Government should liberate the education sector from bureaucratic hurdles and let the institutions survive on the market force.

He further said, "I am not saying the Government should get out of the education sector. What we propose is that the education sector should be opened up on the lines of health sector."

On IT finishing, Mr. Karnik said the concept was highly relevant today.

Though there are thousands of engineers, they are not honed to suit the requirements of the IT industry.

Though big companies have started their own training facility for the purpose, many small companies need help from external agencies.

The graduates lack skills in IT, communication, presentation and articulation, which are highly relevant in the present day.

Representing Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, Minister for Science and Technology Ramachandra Gowda said more number of IT finishing schools will come up in the State soon with private players' participation.

The Government will extend all necessary help, he added.

While Mysore University has extended affiliation to the one-year PG Diploma in Software Programming, Syndicate Bank will offer loan facility to students.

RIIT's school is said to be country's first IT Finishing School.

The Secretary to Government, IT & BT, M.N. Vidyashankar, the General Manager of Syndicate Bank (Retail Banking), B.R. Pai, the University of Mysore vice-chancellor, J. Shashidhar Prasad, and RIIT CEO S.V. Venkatesh were present.

Concern

Mr. Karnik expressed concern over the impact of the rupee's surge on export-dependent software companies, which are struggling with high costs. Any hope for the industry lies in the U.S. economy performing better than expected and the U.S. tweaking interest rates to prop up the dollar, he told reporters.

"We have had an eight or nine per cent increase in the rupee in just the last three or four months and this is something about which the industry is concerned about."

The U.S. accounts for two-thirds of India's software sales and any rise in the rupee reduces the profit margins of companies. NASSCOM has estimated India's software exports at U.S. $ 31 billion by March 2007.

Wages account for half the costs of IT companies and there are warnings that more rises will blunt India's competitive edge. "We have so far been able to manage them," Karnik said. "But if wage costs increase and there is dollar depreciation, we'll have a problem," he added.

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