IT to face shortage of 5 lakh pros

By agencies   |   Tuesday, 18 July 2006, 19:30 IST
Printer Print Email Email
CHENNAI: IT trade body, Nasscom today said that due to lack of quality manpower India will face a shortfall of 500,000 professionals by 2010. Nasscom president Kiran Karnik, while inaugurating the Nasscom HR summit said though thousands of engineers graduated each year; the industry was not getting "right type of people for right jobs." He said Indian universities were producing ‘unusable material,’ while the IT and ITeS firms wanted people who not only had technical skills but also soft skills. He said the situation arose because the country did not make efforts to reform the education sector despite the economy being opened up and more work coming to India. He urged the government to grant universities full autonomy in framing their own curriculum and free them from its clout. He said, "It is ridiculous that the universities should get the permission of University Grants Commission in New Delhi to start new courses. This attitude should be removed.” He said by giving the universities freedom, India can see more creativity and innovation-both important for research and development. "Centers of excellence should be created in several parts of the country, where the students from abroad could pursue education. This would bring in lot of foreign exchange," he said.