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According to Gulzar there must be a full-fledged IT policy in the state, an IT park in Kashmir and an IT Directorate for the growth of IT sector in the Valley.

Despite efforts by government of India to promote Information Technology under ‘Digital India’ program, the IT sector in the Valley is way behind its competitors in other states, believes Mehraj Gulzar, a leading IT professional and past chairman Information Communication Technology Association (ICTA).

According to Gulzar there must be a full-fledged IT policy in the state, an IT park in Kashmir and an IT Directorate for the growth of IT sector in the Valley.

“Our main problem is that we have no IT policy in the state. The proposed IT park at Ompura has not been established. This is proving to be a major dampener for the IT sector in the Valley,” Mehraj said.

“The government had earmarked 150 kanals of land at Ompura for setting up an IT Park but the objection from the Indian Air force did not allow the project to come up. We asked the last PDP-BJP dispensation to look for alternative space for the IT park but to no avail,” he said.

Gulzar accuses the state government of not implementing many schemes which according to him could have proved highly beneficial for the IT sector in the Valley. “The State Wide Array Network (SWAN) project worth Rs 160 crore proposed by the National Conference government during its last tenure never saw the light of the day,” he explains.

According to Gulzar, despite presence of a state data centre there is no data available in it. “Kashmir is lacking e-presence and e-governance. While JK e-governance agency (JKEGA) is the main agency implementing e-governance projects, the IT sector has been stressing on setting up of an IT Directorate which can implement schemes of government of India” he says.

“Although private sector cannot completely rely on government, there has to be an initial thrust. Unless government does create conducive environment, the IT sector cannot grow,” he says.

Gulzar says the ICTA had previously been in talks with National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) and other private IT firms for providing business opportunities to Valley-based IT sector.

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Autor(en)/Author(s): Saqib Malik

Quelle/Source: Greater Kashmir, 02.07.2016

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