Questions to be asked before we think of Inviting IT companies to Goa?
- Percentage of jobs given to local citizen’s breakup of Managerial, Fresh Engineers, Support Staff, Clerical etc.
Let’s take the example of Bangalore, the locals do get employment but what kind of jobs are these, cab drivers, security staff, accountants etc. Majority of the IT senior and middle management is still non Kannadigas, this is can be assumed with shocking real estate appreciation in Bangalore, as these are migrants in nature. Is Goa ready, socially and economically to handle a situation where Goans are left doing the non skilled work and skilled workers coming from different states. Like the identity crisis in Mumbai.
- Is Goa ready for the influx?
Are we ready to handle a traffic signal at Dona Paula, or at Taleigao, as every IT worker will have a greater standard of living, which shall increase the no. of cars in Goa, in turn increase the traffic and parking problems across Panjim.
Town and Country Planning - Should break the state into sectors and plan for residential areas, commercial areas, and industrial areas keeping in consideration the connectivity between these areas.
Road and Transport - Public transport should be planned in such a way that a commuter prefers to travel by it rather than his own vehicle. This will reduce the number of vehicles on road and its consequences like traffic congestions, accidents. There should be wide roads and they should be planned according to the vehicular density expected by virtue of the areas between which the road provides connectivity. Hence this department has to work closely with Town and Country Planning. Sufficient fly overs have to be planned on high density roads.
Are we ready to tackle the sewage and garbage problem created by the exodus of employment opportunities created? Is there sufficient water, electricity, and affordable housing? The reason why Bangalore and Mumbai could not adapt to the mass migration, is due to inadequate pro-active planning and its execution. Bangalore promoted and allowed IT companies to set up their vast campuses, until 8 years later they realized, it has the highest traffic congestion, and now unplanned growth has created practical issues in building infrastructure. Reactive Policies cannot be sustainable in today’s world
Has the Government taken the public opinion in setting up the IT Park, has Government been able to convince people that it is ready to face the repercussions of sudden population growth and increase in traffic.
- How many IT / Computer Engineers pass out in Goa (3 engineering colleges), add to them no. of Bachelors in Computer Science and Bachelor of Computer Applications students? What is the total, how much percentage of this will be locally employed in these facilities?
- With the branding of Goa, being calm and serene, will all IT companies make a beeline to Goa, and make it another Bangalore or another Bandra or Nariman Point. Where we will have all buildings facing our calm sea, with influx of migrant construction workers, followed with sudden real estate appreciation which can be afforded only by well off IT employees and far away from middle class Goan majority. These are issues raised by common Bangaloreans, who once had a charming walk in their gardens, now replaced with never ending traffic jams and growing gap between the rich and poor.
- Recommendations-What industries to focus on, instead of IT, or what’s ideal mix, should there be a cap on the total IT employment in Goa if yes then how to calculate that.
One place Goa can look upto is being Offshore Financial Centre. The term is usually meant to refer to low-tax, lightly regulated jurisdictions which specialise in providing the corporate and commercial infrastructure to facilitate the use of those jurisdictions for the formation of offshore companies.
The IMF considers the following to be characteristics of an Offshore Financial Centre:
- Jurisdictions that have relatively large numbers of financial institutions engaged primarily in business with non-residents;
- Financial systems with external assets and liabilities out of proportion to domestic financial intermediation designed to finance domestic economies; and
- Centres which provide some or all of the following services: low or zero taxation; moderate or light financial regulation; banking secrecy and anonymity.
The Differential in Goa’s case could be helping Indian Finance companies focusing their funds in developed markets like US and UK. Mauritius has attracted more than 9,000 offshore entities; many aimed at commerce in India and South Africa. We can hence answer this with Goa, being an Offshore Financial Center aimed at commerce in US and UK, by which Indian based Financial companies can get doors opened into developed stock markets.
We are not against Goa becoming an IT hub. But I want to speak in the interest of Goa and hence its is important that Goa does not lose its peace and serenity in the process of advancing technologically.
Published Version : http://www.navhindtimes.com/articles.php?Story_ID=032541
2 comments:
Good points raised!!
The normal approach (and unfortunately the usual one that is adopted) is to let the storms set in and then run for cover...
In short, pseudoephedrine the Dutchman and, his wife, in the old weather-box, had not less to do with, each other than he and I.. It was phentermine generally at church-time--or prayer-meeting.. And there she is now, living in an elegant house, and riding in her carriage, and dressing and dashing, and giving evista parties, and enjoying life, as she calls it...
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