Yet another IT policy has been launched with even greater pomp and fanfare. And yet again, it appears we are headed towards an IT revolution very soon despite all the false starts we had in the past 16 years on Information Technology, and for the numerous times we tried to embrace IT like long-lost friends. The bottom line is very simple: the government has failed to troubleshoot roadblocks and show intent in the way forward.
Goa has logged on and off IT for several years and any fresh attempt will obviously be looked at with skepticism, no matter how enticing it looks on paper. The State’s first crush with IT began in 2002 when it launched its IT Policy under the Chief Ministership of Manohar Parrikar soon followed by another attempt in 2005 only to be de-notified in quick time. Then came the ambitious Rajiv Gandhi IT Habitat plan in 2006 which soon went awry over land issues. Laxmikant Parsekar was the next to try his hand and launched the Goa IT Investment Policy 2015-20 which has been in cold storage ever since it was born.
The latest asseveration was the Goa Startup Policy announced in April this year, where ambitious plans of featuring Goa in the top 25 Startup destinations in Asia by 2025 were unveiled. Government spoke about focus area of artificial intelligence, robotics, 3-D printing, data science, drones and virtual reality. Plans appeared robust, but there is still no vibe on the ground to indicate that we are headed there. And how could anyone hold out optimism when our Tuem Electronic City and the Chimbel IT Park plans have been painfully dragging on for years together.
Goa has recently given a go-ahead for the single-window clearance system for projects but it has been largely on paper with entrepreneurs still struggling to get their act together. We have ended up a miserable 19th in the recent listings on ease of doing business. Let’s hope for the best after Parrikar’s assurance to drastically cut down red-tapism.
To make our ambitious IT plans operative, government needs to shell out big money. From grants to concessions and reimbursements to provision of land, the IT tree will have to be nurtured patiently for a sustained period of time. But the moot question is: where will this money come from, since Goa’s economy is already in a state of gloom following the mining
shutdown.
Lastly, the State has been mired in so many of its own internal controversies that the IT destination appears to be a distant pipedream and a vacuous ambition. It remains so because its people still struggle with the basic requirements of life, from power to water and roads to internet connectivity. Goa has a long way to go if it has to lay a strong foundation for an IT hub of the country, leave alone making a mark in Asia.
