"INDIAN SCIENCE: Booming Computer Sector Seen as a Mixed Blessing"

Read the full news article by Pallava Bagla in Science. 16 December 2005. (Subscription required.)

"India cemented its claim to leadership in information technology (IT) last week when three U.S. companies--Microsoft, Intel, and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD)--announced plans to spend nearly $6 billion on research and manufacturing here over the next few years. The economy will benefit, but some scientists are concerned that the IT bonanza could drain talent away from basic research......

"According to the National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) in New Delhi, Indian software and services exports grew more than 34% from 2004 to 2005, earning revenues of $17.2 billion over a 12-month period......

"Although the IT sector is booming, some leaders fear that its rapid growth could hurt other areas of research. Astrophysicist Rajesh Kochhar, former director of the National Institute of Science, Technology, and Development Studies in New Delhi, says: 'There can be no doubt that information technology is acting as a brain sink.' New entrants in the Indian IT sector are paid roughly three times as much as entry-level scientists, he says. The result, he argues, is that 'highly qualified engineers are doing stupid, repetitive work.' Echoing this view, aeronautics engineer Gangan Prathap, chief of the Centre for Mathematical Modelling and Computer Simulation in Bangalore, says foreign investments like those announced this week could "seduce" Indians into becoming 'a nation of techno-coolies.' He claims that academic centers already must 'scrounge at the bottom of the barrel" for talent.'"