Goa's draft IT policy, seeking to enhance the state's capacity for quality decisions has raised a lot of expectations for those
associated with Goa's IT sector. But the disappointment is slowly building in due to the
inordinate delay from the government to adopt it, leave alone its implementation.
The draft IT Policy was the culmination of a series of consultations and conferences organized by the Government, industry
and professional bodies. The draft concept document to develop the IT Policy of the Government of Goa
was thrown open for public suggestions and inputs, way back in September 2002.
Earlier, the delay in finalizing the IT Policy was attributed to the Finance Department which required time to study the financial implications arising
from the various schemes and incentives offered in the policy. However, BS
Bhalla, State IT Secretary said that the policy is pending with the Law Department for vetoing.
The Law Department could not pay attention to the policy as its hands were full with the recently concluded state legislative
assembly session. Once cleared by these two departments, the policy would be referred to the
cabinet for approval before it is notified.
However, the issue doesn't end there. It remains to be seen what features from the draft policy are retained in the final draft
and to what extent the Government fulfills the assurances given in the policy. Besides individuals and various organizations like the Goa Chamber of
Commerce & Industry as well as the Confederation of Indian Industries, some government departments and few MLAs submitted their comments on the policy.
Some of the suggestions received by the government are incorporated in the revised policy, informed
Bhalla. Setting up of India's first R&D park to co-locate several R&D laboratories
on a single campus in Goa, incentives, rewards, subsidy and exemption through single window; provision of bonus for the government employees
towards meeting the targets and IT oriented Special Economic Zone (SEZ) are some of the highlights in the draft IT Policy.
The draft policy has a detailed chapter on e-governance with a thrust on enabling quality decisions and mission-oriented
governance. The IT community is particularly concerned over the fact that the state has failed to attract
any substantial investment in the IT sector for the last several years and it is looking forward to this proactive policy to provide much needed
impetus to the IT industry in the state.
NIRAJ NAIK
CYBER NEWS SERVICE