Bangalore – Silicon Valley of India?
February 19th, 2005 Leave a comment Visited 58 times, 1 so far today
Bangalore – Silicon Valley of India?
As Indians are loath to accept anything original, so goes the tale of Bangalore being the “Silicon Valley†of India. The so-called IT hub of the nation. There is an urgent need for reality check here. First the specifics. Karnataka had the largest number of engineering colleges until it was taken over by Maharashtra. Being a veritable money-spinner, there were hordes of politicians who were invariably associated with the educational trusts. This said and done, it created a glut of the pass outs. The initial wave of outsourcing and Information Technology took advantage of this very fact. Availability of talent pool and a wide differential of pay structure in India and the originating country. Given the fascination of an average Indian to migrate abroad, it was a tailor made solution for the would be employees and employers. Thus started the great influx of the IT firms.
Bangalore had big advantage in terms of weather too. Perhaps that is why it added to the influx of the venture capitalists who initially set up shop here.
All said and done, the hordes of the companies made this as a permanent destination. Perhaps the government of the day sat up and took notice. It gave them enough reason to market the destination abroad. Perhaps at the heart of it was the idea of going on foreign jaunts in the name of attracting capital. As the number of IT firms grew, they formed an association famously known as NASSCOM. It was all tailor made solution for the exploitation that was to set in.
Current obsession with the increasing FDI does not abate. More number of dollars does not really mean that India is hot for parking funds. The biggest factor in India’s favor is the cost differential. As companies sought to decrease their overheads, they slowly moved in the back office work to India over the networks. Falling prices meant that most of the them jumped on the bandwagon. The quality of the services went in for a toss. I am told that Americans are getting wary about the kind of information that is shipped out to the foreign shores. It is indeed sad that most of the companies have not applied for certification, which calls for increased security in the way they deal with information.
The worst-case scenarios were for the call centre jobs. Staying awake on the job through out the nights has indeed taken a heavy toll of the work force. If this is not cyber cooliesm then what else is?
Now for more reality dose. It really pains me to see the increasing focus on Bangalore, which does not have the infrastructure to support the growing population. Broken potholed roads and increasing traffic jams are converting this one time haven into hell. This is what happens when infrastructure planning falls behind the growing population. There have been attempts to remedy the solution to some extent. Bangalore Action Task Force was set up which achieved little. It did make a lot of news but that was truly an eye candy for the media. Perhaps media, as usual, ran out of ideas to hail this as the next step in partnership of government and the citizenry. This is done by giving a spin to the events. This is what makes me turn into a cynic. If the high profile people associated with the board actually want to do something, some action could have been taken. However, in order to curry favors with the political bosses, they usually keep quiet.
The poster boys of the media make sure that the employees are well fed with stock options. True that it made many people rich. However, I see a disturbing trend here. There is no employee union. How do they propose to sit back and fight for any genuine grievances? There is another angle to it, which perhaps no one would openly admit. Increasing number of employees form a talent pool which can be easily poached from rival companies. This fact does not clearly come out in the media reports at all. Perhaps this explains the herd mentality of the start-ups there. Its quite plausible explanation though.
As for the connectivity, the less said, the better. International airport is hanging fire for the past so many years. I believe that it is at the local level politics and some controversies about the compensation. It is true that some people have made a killing out of the proposed project. Time and again, many consortiums had approached to construct the airport, which never happened. A sad reflection of the state of infrastructure in India.
For all the gloss of the pub capital of the nation, Bangalore clearly needs to set its house in order. It is often said that Public Distribution System has failed just on the outskirts of Bangalore. One has to see the pathetic state of suburbs and the lack of reliable connectivity. In order to de congest the metros; the work needs to be relocated to the smaller cities. It would not only act as a catalyst for growth but also create massive avenues for employment. Perhaps the spread of broadband connectivity could help achieve that.
For all the bottlenecks in infrastructure and lack of ideas, out of box thinking is required for solving the problems. I sincerely hope that it happens soon before it gets from bad to worse.
This post was submitted by Dr. Abhishek Puri on Techwhack.
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February 20th, 2005 at 5:27 pm
Oopps! I forgot to mention.In the SILICON VALLEY of the country, try getting a decent broadband connection for home use.If you are able to get one, I am willing to eat my words!
February 22nd, 2005 at 5:14 pm
i had finished mine studies from England wherew I worked with with some of the multinational companies and now I am in india lookin for mi step on ladder in today’s market and i think this is the best field for me as i havce got experiance in this field and I love talking and sharing with other peoples. i would be thankfull if u send me all mthe details of the poisition available in customert care
March 21st, 2005 at 11:20 am
To,
The HR manager
Dear Sir,
My name is Priyank Joshi and recently I am pursuing one year M.Tech (laser science and applications) from Center for Advanced Technology, Department Of Atomic Energy, Indore. My course work has given me comprehensive understanding of Laser Physics and its applications.
I am looking for a job that requires Research and Development in the laser systems and its applications to broaden my horizons and extend my knowledge. So if you and your organization have some job related to my fields then kindly consider me for the same.
Thanking you.
Regards
Priyank Joshi
Locaton Needed-India
April 5th, 2005 at 9:14 pm
Hi,
I am a doctorate in Foods with around 20 years of induatrial experience at senior management level. I want to know if there are any BPO opportunities for Food Industry technocrats in India.
Thanks
April 11th, 2005 at 1:19 pm
to
the H R
dear sir
i am sending you a mail in regard to my previous one for job in customer care. actually i asked if I can get all the details of the position ,you had in customer care but i checkd and they never send me no reply.I would be kind of you if you send me all the details relating to the jobs as i havent got the no. for the organization.
yours faithfully
April 11th, 2005 at 1:20 pm
to
the H R
dear sir
i am sending you a mail in regard to my previous one for job in customer care. actually i asked if I can get all the details of the position ,you had in customer care but i checkd and they never send me no reply.I would be kind of you if you send me all the details relating to the jobs as i havent got the no. for the organization.
yours faithfully
April 26th, 2005 at 2:41 pm
Dear Sir,
I would like to offar myself for a call-centre job,provaided by you. thanks
May 10th, 2005 at 10:51 pm
hello
i am sending you this mail in regard to my previous one, that could you please take mi mail off from your site as i had written in rush and oblidge if you try to understand and delete it from your records.
May 10th, 2005 at 10:52 pm
hello
i am sending you this mail in regard to my previous one, that could you please take mi mail off from your site as i had written in rush and oblidge if you try to understand and delete it from your records.
May 13th, 2005 at 6:17 pm
-the very first company in India (PAL & maruti )
-knowing the facts (bpo industry is big boost for todays industry)
-& when it come to transportation its either a family or a luxury car.
Today where each and every youth kno the meaning of life and they wants to enjoy so that they can perform best serve theit best to country but the problem is that the system is for/with old and family people. The real zone is with elder peoples and the only break the indian market can do is by introducing car specially designed for youth.(may be take a year or two to gain the doors in market as like padmini or fiatuno)
-sorry about the language used.
May 31st, 2005 at 10:45 pm
Hello sir,
Is there any food industries or food labs who requires a food technologist with 1-2 years of experience in a food industry.Please contact me
meenakshi_f07@rediffmail.com
June 13th, 2005 at 12:29 pm
Dear sir/madam,
I have completed my B.E.Food processing and Preservation technology in a reputed college in Tamilnadu.Am looking forward for a suitable job in any food company in India.Hence kindly inform me if there are any job vacancies in this field.
Thanking you,
regards
Janani rajagopalan.
November 29th, 2005 at 2:19 pm
i just read all the comments of diff. people.i have been working for 4 yrs in ICAR institute in relation to food quality analysis.is there any jobs related to my qualification.i will be very grateful.
thanks