“We plan to make computers cheaper”

Former Information Technology secretary Brijesh Kumar spoke to Hardnews in an exclusive interview on the last day of his tenure

Akash Bisht Delhi

There has been a lot of focus on the IT Act 2000, particularly with reference to provisions related to data protection and privacy. Is the government planning to bring amendments in the act?

The IT Act is primarily to enable e-commerce and penetration of computers and internet into different corners of the country. In the light of the experience in the last five years, data security issues have been raised by certain Western countries hence it was decided that the Act be given a thorough review. An expert committee was formed under my chairmanship. It was represented by intellectuals from various academic groups and industries. The committee has, while formulating its recommendations, kept in view the twin objectives of: (i) using the IT as a tool for socio-economic development and employment generation, and (ii) further consolidation of India's position as a major global player in IT sector. The review of the IT Act was also put up for public debate on the net and some changes were incorporated. It has now been circulated to all newsprints for consensus. We are also issuing guidelines to regulate the role of intermediaries and are working towards securing networks regarding sensitive data. Penal provisions are also being made more punishable. The obscenity law is being brought in line with the IPC. We are also introducing the concept of privacy. We are also contacting telephone booths and Internet café operators so that they do not disclose any personal information.

What measures are being taken to spread the usage of computers in the country?

We plan to make computers cheaper and encourage more people to use them. We have also launched a massive programme for development of local languages with the use of computers. More people will take to this if the content is more in local languages. We are also getting into machine translation and a language road map has been drawn for the next five years. Around 100,000 common service centres are part of the national government's plan, which will serve as the focal points for delivery of government services, particularly those related to the rural areas. Education and health are two areas where people will be drawn towards using computers. Similarly, we are creating a portal that will help first level service providers. We have also finalised a scheme wherein presentation would be made to small-scale industries to make them see for themselves the benefit of using computers.

China is striving to be the world leader in the software market as well. How big is the threat from China?

China is very single minded and is focussing sharply on the software industry. They are giving all sorts of encouragement to our software people to go there and set up shop there. Broadly speaking, India is the software leader and China a hardware leader. China is trying to catch up with India's software and massive programmes are being conducted for English education of their population. Therefore the need is that we must be one step ahead and should have people in the more cutting edge areas.

Pirated and counterfeited software are high on demand because original software is expensive and most people can't afford them. What steps is the government doing about it?

Yes, software are pirated and counterfeited because they are costly. So you have to bring the cost down then you should have large numbers to sell and that is where the domestic market comes. A large domestic market can resolve the issue. We have been trying to popularise computers and that includes software as well. Anti-piracy laws are also fairly effective. But if it is happening in every household then it is much difficult to get hold of these individuals.