Kerala's IT Policy: Will 'IT' work?

Kerala: Kerala's IT policy is waiting in the wings, but the initial draft doing the rounds hasn't made IT companies ecstatic.

The companies say the policy is not business friendly and is unlikely to draw investors with its emphasis on free software and human resources. The only silver lining seems to be its effort to promote IT enabled education in schools and colleges.

Says CEO & President, SunTech Business Solutions, Nanda Kumar, "We already have a negative perception saying this is not investor friendly. Because we are based out of Kerala, whenever we go outside the state, people have a negative perception about us."

So what's upsetting IT companies?

Unlike in the other Left ruled state of West Bengal, LDF has not relaxed labour laws in Kerala.

Unlike in West Bengal, the Kerala government's policy encourages the use of free software.

And finally, unlike its Marxian brother, Kerala isn't following a specific growth target.

The government says its too early to start complaining as this is just a draft open to changes.

Says IT advisor to the CM, Government of Kerala, Joseph Mathew, "We are actually looking for good suggestions from them, if at all we can make the policy better."

But IT experts like Vijaya Raghavan are still skeptical.

"Any policy clearly needs to say that we are doing this for economic development, for social development or for employment generation. This is something I don't see a very clear picture on," says he.

With this initial draft, the government seems to be caught in between the communist ideology and the question of development.

It's only after the full policy comes out, will we know whether the LDF government really means development or development itself will take the back-stage.

Kerala IT Policy	W Bengal IT Policy
No relaxation of labour laws	Relaxed labour laws
Emphasis on free software	Proprietary software encouraged
No specific growth target	Hopes to be IT destination by 2010