Bug-free brains

Sir, - Our software engineers and technologists, so much in demand worldwide for ensuring Y2K compliance, have done the country proud, making India a superpower in that field, that too without any help from the Government or other agencies. Sheer competence, technical capability, commitment to meet deadlines and, most important, competitiveness have made them a power to reckon with internationally. Such a high level of achievement, in less than a decade, is remarkable. But people wonder why India, with a vast scientific and technical manpower, is lagging behind in all other fields and is still dependent on foreign technology even for such items as gearbox for cars.

The reason is threefold. One, lack of worthwhile R & D. Two, the ``make a quick buck, get the unit declared sick and get out'' attitude among most of the so-called industrialists. Three, militant trade unionism and all-pervasive corruption, including among union leaders. The never-ending demands of the unions without any commitment to productivity, corruption and lack of R & D have resulted in our products becoming obsolete and non- competitive in the world market. Software technologists are unaffected by these problems as they work with their brains as capital and they themselves constitute the workforce.

V. Krishnan,

Chennai

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