Five days in the paradise on earth , Jammu & Kashmir may sound like a good way to beat the scorching summer heat but a recent trip to the valley to promote employable skills development in the great Universities of Jammu and Kashmir showed that there is something that this state can offer which goes beyond its traditional arts and crafts and its splendid natural beauty.– what is emerging in the state is an eco-system for long term success that can well be a model for success for many aspirants to success in the services industry.

It all began a few months ago when a chance meeting with the young and dynamic Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and understanding his vision of building high quality resources in the state encouraged us to put together a small NASSCOM delegation to visit the state. The speed of progress – in talent assessment, training needs analysis for a range of services sectors including IT and the development of a new technology architecture which would support learner centric education by connecting campuses, content specialists and the student community in the valley would not have been possible if the Chief Minister had not led from the front, brought in dynamic leaders like the Chairman of J&K Bank, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Kashmir and the head of the Education Multimedia Research Center to work with the private sector participants of the delegation in a spirit of true Government – Industry-Academia –Financial Institution collaboration for the benefit of Kashmiri youth.

The NASSCOM – J&K IT Task Force is just one of many initiatives our country needs – in the North East, the Hill States and the Hindi heartland of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar MP and Jharkhand to bring the light of aspirations and dreams into the eyes of a million and more of our young folk, who are in real danger of being disenfranchised as the digital divide grows deeper between the have and have nots in the country. Indeed nothing could make the potential threat more real than the discussions we had with two members of the Srinagar community, who cannot be named for obvious reasons. The first person spoke about growing up in the valley with obvious heroes like Majid Khan and Zaheer Abbas rather than Sunil Gavaskar or Bishen Bedi being the true role models and expressed a sense of relief that the current generation managed to relate to Tendulkar and Dhoni instead. The second, a very well qualified lady spoke with passion about the problems of bringing up young children in a state where multiple working days were lost due to bandhs hartals and curfews and the real trauma of bringing up young children in a city where the sight of gun toting militia is the only predictable sight on every street. We can bear this out because literally every hundred meters on our drive from the Jawahar tunnel to Pahalgam there was a soldier with a gun, on guard against the unexpected.

With this duality of thinking – a feeling of security brought in by the army but still a sense of disquiet and concern on their omnipresence, it is hardly surprising that the recent rape and murder of two young women should bring forth such a torrent of protests. Which is what makes it all the more creditable that a real effort is being made by all the participants of the Talent Valley program to bring in a new climate of hope and a positive view of the future for so many thousands of young members of the community. Here is a fervent appeal to all members of CII NASSCOM and others who have the larger interest of the nation at heart. Let us help young graduates with employable skills from the hill states and disadvantaged communities to find their place in the sun and march proudly with the rest of the industry as the IT and BPO boom revives and the growth processes are resumed across the country.

It is heartening to note that a similar exercise we took up when a NASSCOM CEOs delegation visited Bhutan at the end of last year has already begun to show results for the country. The task force which is led by the IT Minister of that country with the blessings of the new King and the Prime Minister has developed an action blueprint for that country t include IT in its pursuit of Gross National Happiness and the announcements of Genpact’s centre in the country and the training of a hundred young Bhutanese at the campus of Infosys are all steps in the right direction. Talent abounds, not just in the seven IT cities of India but in every corner of the country and in friendly neighbouring nations. It would be a worthwhile agenda for the industry to reach out and be inclusive in its quest of global dominance.