India lacks quality IT manpower

An interwview with Kiran Karnik, President,NASSCOM on problems for the IT and BPO sectors.

Whistleblower: How healthy is the Indian IT industry?
The Indian IT industry and ITES exports will see a growth rate of 30-32% in 2005-06. Last year,exports grew 34.5 % to $17.2 billion. A study by NASSCOM says this growth will be sustained till 2009,by which time exports would have rocketed to $50 billion.

Whistleblower: Does India, like the US,face a shortage of IT manpower?
In terms of numbers,we are self-sufficient. However,the quality of manpower will be a cause of concern in the future,if not now. We need to improve the quality of IT education in India and expand.

Whistleblower: Isn’t NASSCOM’s plan to create a national skills registry of IT employees a breach of privacy?
The registry will contain only such information of IT employees -- like educational background,date of birth --that is in the public domain. We are only trying to keep data in a common physical location to prevent falsification and misrepresentation. The registry will be administered by a credible third party body: the National Securities Depository Ltd (NSDL).

Whistleblower: Has the image of Indian BPOs taken a beating following the Bahree case?
Absolutely not. In fact,India’s record in maintaining clients and business confidentiality is better than most countries. The Bahree case is an aberration.

Whistleblower: How can the BPO industry contain its high attrition rate?
This is an area of concern. Yes there is lot of stress in the BPO sector,but that's true of other professions too. The working environment in BPOs is excellent.