The Times are a Changin...

"Parliament is Supreme", scream the Politicians, Pseudo-Intellectuals and the cocktail crowd. That is granted. But "Parliamentarians are Not". It is clear that these "Parliamentarians" have done a poor job regarding corruption and have misused the "power" vested in them. Our "Parliamentarians" are drunken with power and are hell bent on resisting the "political flogging" meted out to them by Team Anna.


One of the major criticisms of Team Anna’s Satyagraha is that it was undemocratic and extra-parliamentary in approach and that Civil Society does not represent the majority opinion of the citizens of Bharat. Times have changed and people who prescribe to this opinion are ostriches with their head buried in the sands of time. 

With the advent of modern communications technology a broader base of citizens distributed Nationally are able to participate and voice their opinions on issues of National importance. An elected politician represents just his or her constituency, whereas the issue raised by Team Anna energized people across the country, who showed their support by their presence and participation in support of Team Anna’s Satyagraha. Their sheer numbers probably exceeded the votes garnered by many Members of Parliament, to get themselves elected. 

Anna said it best indicating that the people of the country are the owners and that the elected Members of Parliament and Bureaucrat’s job is to serve the owners. There is no argument that the politicians and bureaucrats have failed the owners when it comes to curbing corruption. 

In the absence of a process for a National Referendum, Team Anna has effectively utilized the process of Satyagraha on which the very foundation of our country was established as demonstrated by the Father of our Nation, Mahatma Gandhi. This is the beginning of a trend and heralds a change in the role of the politician in the Democracy of the Future. 

On a local level, politicians will continue to champion the causes of their constituents. On a National level or for that matter at the State and City level, more and more issues will be thrown open to citizens to vote upon and decide. The politician’s role in this aspect will be to ensure that the referendum does not discriminate between a particular community based on their religion, affiliation or gender. 

In the absence of such a process, Team Anna has taken the first step and demonstrated effectively how a National Referendum can be “demanded” in a non-procedural manner.

Currently, the demands have only been accepted for consideration. They still have to be formulated into a Bill and it has to be voted upon by Parliament. In the Democracy of the future, the parliamentary vote would be eliminated, by the issue voted upon by the citizens. While we may claim that “Parliament is Supreme”, let it be noted that Parliament is accountable to the citizens of the country and that the citizens of the country collectively, supersede the “Supremacy of Parliament”.

This process has been implemented in smaller democracies and the time has come for the world’s largest democracy; Bharat and the world’s richest democracy; the US, to pay heed to the issue of National Referendum and institutionalize a process by which it can be done. In the US many State and City level issues are voted upon as Ballot Measures, by the citizens. So for the ostriches whose heads are buried in the sands of time, this is an indication, that a time may come when certain issues may be decided directly by the citizens of the Country, State or City, with the Parliament being a shared body of power as opposed to the sole body of power.

Get Real Mr. Murthy

The claim that IIT graduates are not up to snuff, that coaching classes is one of the reasons responsible for this situation could well be the outcome of the statement being framed incorrectly. An alternate claim could well be that the IT industry does not provide interesting opportunities to attract IIT graduates.

Kudos to the IT Industry:

The IT Industry comprising of notable companies such as Infosys, TCS, WIPRO and others, has put India on the map as a leader in World Class software solutions and BPO service providers. The IT Industry has been so successful that the term “Banglored” is being used to describe jobs in the developed world that are being outsourced. Even President Obama, (who moves his head from side to side as he speaks), talks of jobs that he wants in Buffalo, (while he looks in one direction), instead of evaporating to Bengaluru (while he looks in the other direction). The people involved in the IT Industry are doing a yeoman’s job and something that has brought our Nation a tremendous amount of pride, employs a lot of individuals both directly and indirectly and brings in much needed foreign exchange.

There is more to IT:

IT activity can be broadly categorized as Architecture, Construction and Services. The Indian IT industry for the most part is involved in “construction” activity that extends the customers existing computing environment and services. The former involves “pounding the keyboard”, and the latter involves providing technical support, maintenance etc., answering the phone, and/or doing some administrative work. Star IIT graduates look for opportunities that go beyond these activities, let alone answering the phone during night owl hours!

Where the Opportunity is, Graduates will go:

Consequently graduates gravitate to where the opportunity and remuneration is, be it the Financial or FMCG sectors. Yes, they follow the money. Furthermore, there are attractive opportunities at companies such as Intel, GE, Microsoft, etc. Graduates interested in software development would rather work for high tech companies involved in developing innovative products rather than IT companies involved in “construction” activities. The fact of the matter is that industry comes to IIT and clamor for IIT graduates. Many have multiple job offers. Some are disappointed with the compensation extended and do look for alternatives. And yes there maybe some slackers.

In search of the ideal IT candidate:

The issue of competency in English was raised. Technical skills and competency are orthogonal. One could be very competent technically in Hindi or their regional language. Obviously, English competency is important in the IT industry that is involved in what is commonly referred to as “body shopping”. And yes the IT companies eagerly look for technically competent individuals, fluent in English who would be happy and content “pounding the keyboard” that they i.e. the IT company can “body shop”. Infosys is an excellent company and it does well by hiring graduates that augment its success from regional colleges. An IIT graduate who scores the JEE, and graduates from this elite institute, probably aspires to something more than being recruited and bunched with second and third rung college grads.

In Summary:

It appears Mr. Murthy’s statement was based on anecdotal experience and not grounded on facts. Maybe, just maybe, the IITs are the wrong place to look for the ideal IT employee.