Ten years from now, a villager will earn a handsome pay package staying in his own locality. It might sound Utopian, but it is possible. In the meantime, the mass exodus from the cities like Bhubaneswar, Ranchi, Guwahati, Patna, Kanpur, Dehradun, etc. to the metro cities in the pursuit of fortune can be stopped. The answer is the IT and ITeS industry.
Most of the BPO and Call centres are established in the metropolises and A-class cities. They find these places suitable in terms of infrastructure or from climate angle. But very soon these places are going to face hurdles in terms of resources. At the same time, attrition has become a grave concern for the industry. Basically, life in such cities is a bit stretched out and, on top of it, if they work strenuously, attrition is bound to grow. Therefore, the solution is the establishments have to be evenly spread out across the cities and even villages.
The point is what it takes to help the industry to flourish? Perhaps, the answer is favourable IT policy, basic infrastructure like airports, power, hospitals, schools, colleges, eating joints and good shopping arcades. Perhaps, every state fulfils these criteria. But why Bangalore is being over-used or, for that matter, Delhi or Mumbai? Today, traffic is the biggest concern for Bangalore. It cannot stretch anymore. So also Delhi and Mumbai have their inherent problems.
One should look at the cities like Bhubaneswar, Ranchi, Guwahati, Patna, Kanpur, Dehradun, etc. These places have their distinct advantages of cheap labour, cheaper property and the government’s strong willingness? They have SEZs, STPIs, etc. to provide the required connectivity and infrastructure. Even the administrations of some aforesaid locations are giving tax holiday for some time? On top of these, the lifestyle of these places is not so stretched. So, the attrition rate will be fairly low. Bangalore might look very attractive in terms of its climatic advantage, but for an employee who sits 8 hours in a centralized air-conditioned environment how does the 50-degree outside temperature matters to him?
The ITeS industry does not require any specified location because it is not local market dependent. So, it can flourish in the rural environment as well. What it requires are knowledge workers, who are available aplenty in the villages? One just needs to orient them. The government sector has already started enabling them.
Sanjay Mohapatra
Editor
