Nasscom to set up finishing school in Chandigarh

Chandigarh, Aug 2 (UNI) To meet the skilled human resource requirment of IT/ITES sector, Nasscom with Chandigarh Administration will set up up a finishing school in the city.

Making the announcemet at the the inaugural session of the two-day mega IT event, e-Revolution 2007, Nasscom Chairman Lakshmi Narayanan said here today that the hope for future growth in IT sector rested with the Tier-II cities like Chandigarh, where necessary infrastructure and connectivity were already in place.

"India has great potential to nurture its talent to get the biggest pie of the global knowledge industry, which is possible by making the large number of qualified graduates employable through intensive grounding in a finishing school, a concept initiated by Nasscom," he said.

Mr Narayanan, who is also vice chairman of Cognizant Technology Solutions, said the greatest challenge before the IT/ITES industry around the world was to get quality human talent which was prerequisite to industry's success.

Panjab Governor Gen (Retd) S F Rodrigues, in his inaugural address, requested the IT professionals who had gathered at the event, to make the development of IT "all inclusive", so that a large number of unemployed people living below the poverty lines can be uplifted and brought into the mainstream of development.

"260 million people living below the poverty line are the untapped human resource of our country and every developmental initiative must ensure that the benefits reach them," Gen Rodrigues averred.

Earlier, Haryana IT Minister H S Chatha remarked that Gurgaon has already created a niche as one of the best IT destinations in the country, and now the state government has acquired 74 acres of land to develop IT park in Panchkula, which would be another most favoured destination because of high literacy state in the region and the enabling environment offered by the Government.

Punjab IT Minister A P S Kairon informed that Mohali was being developed as a centre of excellence where best of infrastructure, a nano city, biotechnology institution, and education facilities were planned.

Welcoming the delegates, Mr S K Sandhu, Secretary IT and Finance, Chandigarh, said the UT had made strides in IT sector including setting up of the Cyber Security Centre in a record time and introducing e-governance programme.

He said that Rajiv Gandhi Chandigarh Technology Park had attracted investment to the tune of 650 crore with 30 major IT companies employing over 4500 people.

UNI