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Today Sonal, a high school dropout and a resident of Sangli, a small town about 280 miles from Mumbai, India, is not only a teacher in a primary school in her hometown, but also manages the correspondence for the school's office. Recently, Sonal enrolled in a graduate course at an open university. "God has been kind to me by providing opportunities in the form of SNFGDK ," says Sonal. Despite hailing from the lowest rung of society as well as from a rural area which is especially conscious of the caste system, Sonal dares to dream of one day being the principal of the school.
"Sonal is a good example of the impact of IT/ITES on Indian society," says Ajit Gorde of the Suraj Foundation, a non-government organization for social development that runs the SNFGDK initiative. The foundation has joined up with the IT lobby NASSCOM to spread education and computer literacy in rural India. "IT/ITES has made the disadvantaged realize they have to hone up their skills and have to have at least operating knowledge of computers. They are now aware of the Internet and benefits of knowledge that can be acquired using the Internet,” Gorde explained.
Indeed India's famed information technology (IT) and IT-enabled services (ITES) industry has contributed enormously over the last two decades to the country’s economic growth, foreign exchange earnings and employment generation, as well as overall economic health. What is equally significant, though not as tangible, is the ripple effect it has created on the general environment, changing the lives of a large section of the Indian population which had suffered from the digital divide.
"The Indian IT/ITES that barely existed two decades ago has been one of the great success stories of modern India," according to Rufina Fernandes, the chief executive officer of NASSCOM Foundation, the social development arm of the Indian IT industry lobby. "It is also arguably the most global of any Indian industry, proving to the world as well as to the country's people that India can now compete globally and win on quality. But what is notable is that through various direct and indirect contributions and initiatives, India's IT/ITES sector has touched the lives of society at large, even going beyond the immediate stakeholders of the industry."
A few key indicators of its direct contribution: The sector now accounts for over 5 percent of India’s gross domestic product, up from about 1.2 percent a decade ago. It earns the country US$40 billion of foreign exchange – a crucial commodity for India – each year, has been growing at over 30 percent a year, and directly employs over 2 million people. According to the Ministry of Labor and Employment, India’s IT/ITES sector employs 12 percent of the private sector workforce, making it the sector’s biggest employer.
The Indian IT sector is recognized as a global phenomenon for its economic contribution to both India and the Western world. But it is not simply about software and hi-tech services, or geeks that are making loads of money for themselves and the industry. "Through socially relevant products and services, community initiatives, human resource development, education, employability, health, women empowerment, employment of differently-abled and 'out-of-the-mainstream' people, Indian IT/ITES is making significant socio-economic contributions," says Fernandes.
Take the instance of Vindhya E-Infomedia, a Bangalore-based data consultancy company. This company offers vanilla back-office services in a unique way. Out of its total employee count of about 100, as many as 81 suffer from different kinds of disabilities. Launched in 2006, the company has grown from a small data entry service provider to a non-voice back-office service provider purely by training "differently enabled" recruits from rural areas.
Similarly, Infosys – India's poster-boy IT company – has a "persons with disability" recruitment policy which has seen the company employ 165 disabled persons, and it is looking to more than double the number in the next few years. Multinational IT companies have also chipped in to the effort. IBM, for instance, runs women recruitment initiatives that seek to “bring women back to work,” while others like Microsoft and Oracle – along with almost all top 25 Indian and MNC IT companies – partner with several public, voluntary, and not-for-profit organizations in various community initiatives. These range from providing companionship to isolated seniors to spreading awareness about social, health, sports and art, and environmental issues.
"As an efficiency and productivity enhancer, the IT/ITES sector also stimulates many other sectors," says Kiran Karnik, the past president of NASSCOM. "Besides nurturing and encouraging start-up companies and small and medium-scale enterprises, the sector has collectively taken some very useful steps in areas of data security, certification, and promotion of new locations, creation of angel funds, mentoring for start-ups, as well as identifying and promoting new areas for the industry's growth and stimulating the domestic market."
"There's little doubt that the contribution of the IT/ITES industry to India's economy and society is significant," says Fernandes. "Each of NASSCOM's member companies has played a role in this success story and as the industry grows in stature and size, it would be expected to play an even larger role, especially in contributing to the marginalized and vulnerable sections of the community."
Still, the sector is also facing challenges in its social pursuits, and the biggest one is the low level of involvement of smaller companies. According to the NASSCOM Foundation, close to 25 percent of relatively smaller-revenue companies do not participate in socially relevant community initiatives, either because they are unable to allocate their time and resources, or due to low margins and pressure on profits.
Moreover, says Rajen Varada, director of Technology for the People, a Bangalore-based technical support organization promoting developmental issues through the use of ICT: "One of the major challenges of ICT4D (Information Communication Technology for Development) has been to bridge the digital divide. Amidst all upbeat happenings, India still witnesses a large majority of population disadvantaged by poverty, education and access. These factors further distance their cultural ergonomics from technology, which in turn reduces the utility value of technology among them."
The problem is the limited geographical outreach of social initiatives. Typically, most social initiatives are centered within the geographical proximity of the IT/ITES companies, which restricts their outreach to people in rural areas or smaller cities, where a majority of the population resides.
Nevertheless, the Indian IT/ITES industry has made a beginning and is set to intensify its efforts going forward. So much so that "it is on track to set an example that would encourage others to emulate and help change the face of India," says the NASSCOM Foundation.
