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IT panel discusses measures to increase tech workers

A high-level information technology (IT) panel advising the Indian government, on Monday, discussed measures to boost the supply of software engineers to feed a huge global demand, industry officials said.

"We discussed how the industry can contribute to increase the quantity and quality of manpower," Dewang Mehta, President, National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM), told reporters after the meeting.

The National Advisory Committee on Information Technology which includes key corporate leaders, also emphasised the need for the government to boost infrastructure facilities like power and also eliminate red tapism in order to promote the manufacture of computer hardware in India, Mehta said.

The committee, which met Information Technology Minister Pramod Mahajan, was also scheduled to discuss efforts to proliferate Internet in the nation. Members who attended the meeting said the predominant focus was on hardware and education.

"It is estimated that globally there would be a shortage of 1.5 million IT professionals over the next five years. India alone would require an estimated 800,000 additional IT professionals at the high end by 2008," the government said in a statement ahead of the meeting.

India currently produces 170,000 graduate engineers every year of which more than 90,000 are related to IT.

Some of the members of the committee are Azim Premji, Chairman, Wipro, N R Narayana Murthy, Chairman, Infosys Technologies and Rajendra Pawar, chairman of NIIT.

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