Mr Jainder Singh, Union Secretary, Information Technology and Communication.

IT exports from India are poised to reach $80 billion within three years effectively doubling from $40 billion achieved in 2007-08. In the process it would create about two million more direct jobs, according to Mr Jainder Singh, Union Secretary, Information Technology and Communication. The sector also provides two million jobs to IT professionals directly and another 7-8 million people indirectly and contributes about 5 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product, and 33 per cent of exports. The sector contribution to GDP is set to go up significantly, he said. While the Indian IT brand is well established, it is faced with the challenge of increasing the employable pool of engineers to sustain the growth, Mr Singh said launching ‘Prepare Future’, a Faculty Updation Programme here. Mr Singh said of the 4 lakh who graduate out of engineering colleges in the country, about 25 per cent are actually employable.

Thrust on Training
Therefore, the accent is on increasing the employable pool. However, this time, instead of focus on the student and his training, the thrust is on training teachers. The importance of training can be gauged from the fact that about Rs 4,000 crore would be spent by IT companies on training their employees during the year, he said. The IT department has chosen the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-Dac), Hyderabad as the nodal centre to design, develop and help train faculty of engineering colleges.

On the back of successful launch of its "e-gram" initiative, under which villages have been offered broadband connectivity, the Gujarat government's health department has announced an e-medicine scheme for rural areas.

The programme entails offering online and telemedicine facilities to villagers. "We are waiting for the panchayat department to cover all 18,000 villages in the state under the e-gram initiative. Once this is done, we are planning to use the broadband connectivity to initiate an e-medicine programme wherein we will set up e-cardio testing and e-diagnosis facilities. All villages will have these facilities over a period of two years," said state Health Minister Jay Narayan Vyas.

The department will install web cameras and other infrastructure for distant diagnosis. "Through video conferencing, doctors at a distant hospital will be able to diagnose the villagers for basic ailments and prescribe medicines online. The printout of the prescription will be available at the community service centres set up by the department," said Vyas. Of the total Plan outlay in the state budget for 2008-09, 4 per cent is for the health sector. This was an increase of 46 per cent over last year, said Vyas.

The government will also train local panchayat officials in running online health centres. The state is also encouraging medical practitioners to set up clinics in certain identified blocks in rural areas. "The government will provide a grant of Rs 74 lakh for medical practitioners who are willing to open clinics in certain identified blocks in rural areas," he added. In April this year, French major Dassault Systemes tied up with Argentum Engineering Design's (AED) Centre for Excellence to train automobile engineers who would design, test, validate and manufacture new vehicle models for domestic and international OEMs.

According to a Nasscom report, the automobile and aerospace design industry is currently estimated at $ 144 billion, in which India's current share is valued between $3 billion and $5 billion annually. This amount is estimated to increase to around $16 billion over the next two to three years. Global spending on engineering services is expected to touch $1.1 trillion by 2020. Outsourcing to India will touch over $ 50 billion by then.

Source: Business Standard