Reads this compelling analysis in the Indian Express on the current Great Bangalore war over infrastructure. The author makes damn good points in defending Bangalore’s case and position as the Number One IT city in India.
While it is welcome that more and more Indian cities are vying to become a Bangalore of the future, what is not comforting is that it should be on the ashes of the Karnataka city.
And a warning that other cities could face a fate similar to that of Bangalore today if something isn’t done soon.
Also, the Bangalore story has rung alarm bells across the country - will the same thing happen in Chandigarh, Hyderabad and all the others dreaming of IT glory.
Many stories and inferences have been drawn to explain the amazing success story of Bangalore: large pool of educated/skilled/talented people, climate, proximity, access to resources, research institutes… To my mind, it appears that the one quality that perhaps led to Bangalore’s success lies in Bangalore’s truly open, cosmopolitan culture. As long as I can remember, Bangalore has always opened its portal to outsiders. You couldn’t discern the unwelcome atmosphere in for example Chennai, where if you’re a non-Tamilian, you’re immediately made to feel conscious that you’re an outsider, or Mumbai which for historical reasons didn’t attract IT (it still is very much a Manufacturing City) the way Bangalore did–I’m not disputing its cosmopolitan, all-accommodating nature (but that sadly has suffered a small dent thanks to Shiv Sena’s aggressive Marathi-only stance), or Delhi, or for heaven’s sake, the Communist Capitals, Trivandrum and Calcutta.
This, as the article says, is the danger Bangalore is facing today. Pitting a society against itself has always been our politicians’ favourite game. And Deve Gowda is a past master in this.
Which is why I hold the man singularly responsible for the present mess. There are no doubt, other players: Chief Minister Dharam Singh who wants to have the cake and eat it too. He is by far the most passive, and politically impotent CM I have seen in all my adult life. He’s unwilling to let go of the unexpected boon of Chiefministership that literally fell into his lap. On the one side, he needs to cringe and placate Deve Gowda, his coalition ally, and on the other, he needs to reassure the IT companies mostly with empty promises. Unfortunately for all thinking citizens, Dharam Singh has proved that he has at every turn given into Deve Gowda’s open blackmail.
Deve Gowda has met with stunning success temporally at least. Local tabloids and vociferously pro-Kannada organizations have found a goldmine. They have converted what essentially is a democratic right into an us versus them issue. The said democratic right is that it is the government’s duty to provide good infrastructure given the loot they garner in the form of ever-increasing taxes. Is it the IT industry’s fault that they raised the infastructure issue?
The recent rains (it is still raining as I write this it has stopped now) have more than exposed that the IT industry’s demand for better infastructure isn’t hollow nor that it is to serve their selfish interests. The city has turned into one gigantic crater. Serpentine traffic jams that were anyway a hallmark of the city has now taken a new definition. Over the past three or so days, it is taking me 2 hours to traverse a mere 10 Kilometres. And is it only me, or only the IT folks that suffer this?
The Indian Express article has generated tremendous response from both sides. Barring a few jerky responses, (you IT guys sitting in your AC offices and sending this via email, you don’t understand the common man’s problems… ) there’s wholehearted support to take on the political mafia. We need to see how far the Save Bangalore campaign goes in resolving the present issue.
Assuming the present problem is solved, we need to think of a long-term safety mechanism to both prevent and deal with similar incidents in future. Given the character of our political class, it is impossible to predict the direction from which they’ll deliver a new blow. Which calls for an industry-wide effort. A good first step would be to form a think-tank comprising leaders not just from the IT sector, but farsighted, committed individuals who’re capable of articulating and formulating policies that would ultimately benefit the whole society. The appointment of heads of corporations like Philips and Infosys to the BIAL was a good first step before Deve Gowda put the spanner there. One of the main objectives of the think-tank should be to insulate itself from political interference.
Tags: Indian Politics, Society & Culture
Hi Sandeep,
Being from Bangalore, I am very sad at the way things are shaping up in this tussle between His Excellency Devegowda and the IT industry.
As you rightly said we need people who are visionaries to address the long term issues facing bangalore. We did have some very original thinkers in the past, but the present breed of beaurocrats and politicans are useless. Not only can they not think but will hinder people from offering and implementing any novel ideas which may improve the situation.
A case in point is BATF which was headed by Nandan Nilekani of Infosys and had some eminent people on board to foster the private/public partnership in the city development. But only CM Krishna stepped down, it was quickly wound up by (A)Dharma Singh and Gowda. Same is the case with BDA chairman Jaikar Jerome and City Corporation commisioner Jairaj. Both were shunted out inspite of their excellent performance.
With warm regards,
Guruprasad
Hi Sandeep,
The only solution to this problem is stop developing / flodding one city with companies, othewise i see bangalore going to bombay way in next 10-15 years with tons of slums, water crisis, socio-economical problems & drainage issues. Note Bombay atleast have a planned drainage & water system. Bangalore does not have that. All junta is using underground water & once thats going down (as has happened in fews cities of Maharashtra, Andhra) its again a crisis.
I agree Metro etc can solve little bit of traffic congestion but i wonder how quickly it will get implemented and what about next 4 years till Metro comes up?
So, IT companies should start migrating out than pouring in / expanding in Bangalore.
And i think Deve Gowda / dharam is doing a good job to encourage them to expand out side bangalore.
This will solve a lot of issues.
This is the conclution i reached to after seeing “industrial” developement in various cities of india (Pune, Bombay & Bangalore).
Atleast Pune / Mumbai has manufacturing sector which creates employment to “not so fortunate” class. IT does not do that. If u dont believe what i say ask ur colleages (assuming u r a IT guy) most of them will be from “good middle class background”. (Good means atleast one person in family had a decent job like bank / private company etc)
Now these are IT people are getting converted to higher middle class. But what about not-so fortunate? What about them? This class division is evident for me in Bangalore.
Is anyone thinking of what this socio-tussle leading to?
Deve gowda has a vote bank their. & finaly the people of karnataka have voted them close to power. So are they also saying the same thing? Are we IT guys too much selfish to think only about our issues? Any one found out what happened to the farmers and farm workers who worked on land which is allocated to IT firms?
-Harshad
Hi Sandeep,
Globalization is a two-faced coin. While it might open opportunities for some where there was none, it might also force difficult change on others. This is where the Government (which should, in a true democracy mean, we the people) need to be a watchdog and grow the reforms in a manner that benefits the masses and not just the elite few.
However, having said that and being someone from Bangalore with close family connections to people in villages in Bangalore rural district, I am a witness to the fact that the opportunities for people in these villages as well as those masses who migrate to bangalore (looking for jobs generated by IT support industries) has been a boon. It is amazing to see the very mentalality of these people completely transform when they see the opportunities and its unlimited potential, without regard for caste, color or background of these people. In a true sense, economic reform has been more effective than centuries of social reform in a society like ours.
It is easy for today’s painfully unconcerned politicians to play theatrics and stir emotions to create confusion and distract focus from what they REALLY are doing to improve the “problems” and “injustices” that they claim have been burdened on them due to the IT economy and how things would have been much better for the masses in the absense of such an industry! All of us should want to know from such politicians who have now been in power for almost two years, what they REALLY have done apart from bickering and turning Karnataka into one of the most corrupt states in the country to the extent that its become a “normal” part of life for our representatives in Vidhana Soudha and very sadly, even to us.
- Guru Gowda
Bangalore has been renamed to Bungleore as this is more appropriate now. Just check out http://www.bungleore.com for more details.
why IT Companies are migratingto Bangalore