Is Bangalore an Eldorado of IT Sector.?

Bangalore city has attracted international attention as the hub of Indian information technology sector. In western countries "I am Bangalored" for losing one's job to someone else in India has entered the daily jargon. The leading IT firm "Infosys" recently celebrated its silver jubilee. Many of the leading Indian and Multinational IT companies opted for Bangalore, because of its "salubrious climate", first used by sir Winston Churchill in his autobiography. He spent two years in Bangalore during the last decade of the nineteenth century as a Lieutenant in the British army. He appears to have enjoyed himself immensely in such activities as Horse-riding and drinking whiskey in Bangalore Union and Services club to which he still owes thirteen annas (Sixteen annas make a rupee). This venerated club still exists and the register, which has Winston Churchill's signature is a prized possession of the club. The IT companies also preferred the western ambiance, which still prevails in the old British cantonment area. The state of Karnataka today boasts of more than one hundred and fifty engineering colleges, which supply cheap labour to these modern day "Factories". According to the IT sector every year 50,000 new jobs are created in Bangalore city alone. So the city has been attracting young men and women from all over India and in some cases a few thousand Europeans from western countries.

Like all boom towns Bangalore has enjoyed unprecedented growth and is also facing complex social problems. According to census in 1971 the population of Bangalore was 1.2 million and today (2006) it has a population of 7 million. Today Bangalore city is criticised by the captains of the IT industry for its poor infrastructure. Most of the roads are in bad shape full of pot holes and traffic jams and high rate of pollution is the daily feature of the city life. The Karnataka government has failed to supply continuous electric power and drinking water. The underprivileged class spend a lot of time in commuting from one part of city to another in congested city buses, which move at snail pace. In most of the suburbs drinking water has become a scarce commodity. As it usually happens the five-star hotels, exclusive clubs and resorts and luxury flats co-exist next to slums. The moneyed class move around in Bentleys, Mercedes-Benzes and Maybachs. In the huge supermarkets one can buy the best French wine, Swiss cheese, Omega watches and designer clothes from international fashion houses. Of course, Kentucky fried chicken outlets and Mac-Donalds have arrived in city. The poor man's wayside restaurants called as "Darshinis", which serve south Indian delicacies such as Idlis and vadas, Masala dosas and hot South Indian coffee also co-exist.

There are some well kept secrets about the Bangalore IT sector. On the face of it the salaries paid to software engineers appear to be very high going by Indian standards. A senior IAS officer in Bangalore will be earning Rs.35,000/-per month after 25 years of service. Whereas a software engineer with three years of experience earns Rs.50,000/-per month. The so called the high salaries have led to a consumerism not seen before in India. The youngsters are buying more cars, Flats and jewellery, often on credit. According to the recent newspaper reports the IT industry in India has employed 4.5 Lakhs workers. The IT industry has also provided employment to the personnel in Food catering sector and transportation. But compared to the wages paid in U.S.A or U.K, what the software engineers in India are earnings can be described at best as "peanuts". Most of the Multi-national companies are here because labour is cheap. The satellite communication has bridged the distance and also the time factor, which has given India an advantage over other countries as technical education is imparted in English language. Whereas China has not been able to catch up with India in software technology as it lags behind in having an English language speaking labour force. But China is way ahead of India in Hardware technology.

It is interesting to study the life style of an average software engineer. An engineering graduate aged 21 takes up a job in one of these IT companies and starts on salary of Rupees 17,000/-per month (370 $). The employee leaves home at 7:30 A.M and spends two hours to reach the work place by the transportation provided by the company. The working hours are supposed to be 9:30 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. A subsided lunch is also provided on the company premises. Most of the companies boast of such things as gymnasium, golf course, basketball court and swimming pool. But this is hardly used by software engineers because they have no time for that. All this clubs and multi-cuisine restaurants are meant as show pieces for foreign visitors. The average software engineer cannot finish his work before 8:00 P.M. Then he or she spends two hours commuting in a company bus back home. The employee reaches home at 10:00 or 11:00 P.M. Most of the Indians are not used to the western concept of a leisurely weekend, which usually begins on Friday evening and ends on Sunday nights. Most of the Indian work force do attend to work on Saturdays and Sundays. All of them are given short deadlines to complete their project. This is done deliberately to extract a lot of work from the cheap labour force. Most of the big companies violate Indian labour laws with impunity as there are no trade unions in the IT sector. The policy of hire and fire is a Damocles sword over one's head. Nobody ever thinks of paying extra bonus for the extra time put in by the employee. Even the high attrition rate of employees does not demoralise a company in India. It is because India has a large educated and trained labour force, in the words of Maynard Keynes "Capitalism requires a standing army of unemployed people". In India, the exact percentage of unemployed people could be around 30%. In America, if the unemployment figures cross 8%, it is treated as a national scandal.

The psychological and social pressure, stress and tension experienced by an average software engineer is rarely taken into account by the big companies. These individuals have no private time and no leisure to pursue such things as attending concerts, plays or even reading a good book. Most of the software engineers suffer from vacuity of mind as their own general reading in literature, history, science or philosophy is usually abysmal. The intellectual shallowness coupled with a high degree of complacency fuelled by a high-income breeds insensitivity towards the rest of society. Most of these people literally live in ivory towers and going to a foreign country is a big event in their lives. They may go to Italy in connection with their work and without knowing anything about the rich heritage of Italy. They don't care for Roman history, Christian art, Italian opera or the Neo-realistic films of Italy. So, Italy becomes another country to be added to their itinerary.

Most of these software engineers hardly know anything about their own country. They do not give a damn about it's history, culture, literature and philosophy. They seem to have missed the best of the west and also the best of the east. If this is not a modern tragedy, what else is? In the American context, Arthur Miller's "Death of a salesman" and Tennessee William's "A Street car named desire" embody the tragic side of American dream. If there is an Indian dream, it's flip side appears to be the Indian IT work force. The Spaniards went in search of Eldorado, which they never found. For all the glamour and the hype surrounding the Indian IT sector it's dark side cannot be ignored. It has created islands of wealth amidst an ocean of poverty. To the Bangalore criminal world software engineers are a soft target. The crime rate has increased and this privileged class has become an eye-sore to the dispossessed and the unemployed people. The natural envy turns into greed and leads to crime. Most of these companies have shown very little social responsibility. A little bit of charity work they do is of the cosmetic kind. Most of these captains have done precious little for their Alma-maters and universities. For them Bill Gates and his charitable work is a anathema to them. They all look eagerly every year whether their names appear in the Forbes List of World's Rich people. They are the first people to complain about poor infrastructure and the last ones to contribute towards its creation. Isn't it Hypocrisy?