GTECH reaction to the Kerala state Budget

GTECH welcomes and appreciates the move of the Government for the deferrement of 50% of rent to the financial year 2010-11. However, considering the impact of the recession on the Knowledge Industry in Kerala, the move may not be of substantive help to the affected companies, as they would still have to provide for this rent, though this would help in cash flow management.

It is also not clear how this deferred rent would be recovered from the year 2010-11. A 12-installment recover would lead to a severe burden in the financial year 2010 – 2011. On the other hand, a 50 % rent waiver for the period of the recession would have brought the much-needed relief to the IT Industry. In addition, a waiver of the additional electricity charges for the 25% excess consumption over the previous year would also significantly benefited the IT Industry.

Technopark to adopt a Healthy Life Style

Technopark is all set to adopt a healthy life style at the Workplaces. This was reverberated at the session on Healthy Life style at IT Workplaces organised by the Group of Technopark Companies (GTECH) in association with the Kerala State IT Mission and Technopark. The session brought together the Human Resource Professionals, Health Experts and Health organisations on a common platform and discussed the concept of maintaining a healthy life style at the workplace and sensitised the Technopark Community on Health and Wellness at the IT Workplace. The session included discussions and presentations on the foundation of creating a healthy workforce, which dwelt on prevention of life style diseases, Healthy Nutrition and Stress Management.

Stressing on the need for a healthy life style, speakers stressed on the need to balance the different components of life style like the workspace, family space, Social Space and personal space. Dr L Vijayalekshmi, HOD, Applied Nutrition, Trivandrum Medical College, stressed on the need for IT professionals to re-engineer the life style on a regular exercise and healthy diet.

Dr. V Mohanan Nair, State Nodal Officer, National Programme for Prevention of Diabetes, Cardiovascular Diseases and Stroke stressed on the responsibility of the IT firms to provide healthy food options at the cafeterias and also on the importance of taking precautionary measures to fight the onset of Non-communicable diseases.

Mr. R Narayanan, Chief Mentor, Faith Infotech spoke on the need for the professionals working in the IT Sector to embark on a personal mission to be healthy.

Other speakers at the session included Mr. Mohan Kumar, Industrial Psychologist, Tiger India, Mr. Anil Thricovil, CEO, Alamy Images, Mr. S Rama Rao, President GTECH and Mr. Satish Babu, Secretary, GTECH.

In a Press statement, GTECH stated that such sessions would be an ongoing activity and will strive for creating a platform in Technopark to regularly communicate with the medical fraternity in the state.

Recession Proof: Spirit and Spirituality in Kerala

An interesting article appeared in Indian Express which is truly a thought provoking one- A peice of Economics.

The intoxicating industries of spirit and Spirituality in Kerala seem to have beaten the economic downturn.
Liquor sales registered a robust growth in the last three months, though the period had been marked by the loss of employement for many and crash in the prices of agricultural produce. Spirituality too seems to be on a high in recent months if the record revenue at pilgrim and retreat centres is anything to go by.
The Kerala State Beverages Corporation (KSBC), the sole distributor of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) in the state, has registered a 29 per cent increase in the sale of liquor for the quarter ended December 31 compared to the corresponding period last fiscal.
Managing Director Shanker Reddy said the economic downturn has had little impact on the sale of IMFL. Total IMFL sales in the last fiscal stood at Rs 3,669.49 crore. The figure likely to touch Rs 4,500 crore in the current fiscal, added Reddy.
Compared to IMFL sales of Rs 971.27 crore from November 2007 to January 2008, KSBC had sales of Rs 1175.83 crore from November 2008 to January 2009.
One of the highest liquor-consuming districts is Kottayam, also the largest grower of natural rubber in the country. Though rubber prices have plunged from Rs 140 per kg to Rs 65 in last five months, the mood is still upbeat in the IMFL outlets and bars in this Christian heartland.
Bacchus isn't the only God on people's minds either. Though the flow of tourists has come down due to the recession, pilgrim and retreat centres are still doing roaring business.
Sabarimala Ayyappa temple, one of the most famous pilgrim centres in India, had an all-time record revenue from its two-month annual festival season which ended in the third week of January.
According to the temple governing body, the Travancore Dewaswom Board, this season's revenue was Rs 112.22 crore, while the figure of the last season stood at Rs 83 crore. This is the first time in the history of the hill shrine that the collection has crossed Rs 100 crore. A major chunk of the revenue came from pilgrims' offerings at the temple.
The picture is also rosy at the Christian spiritual centres. The Catholic Church has 89 affiliated retreat centres in the state, which run five-day meditation camps every week throughout the year.
The Divine Retreat Centre at Chalakkudy in Central Kerala is one of the most popular. At least 3,000 people attend the weekly retreat session here. "We have not reported any drop in attendance," said A B Mathews, accountant at the centre. Coincidentally, Chalakkudy is also the leader in IMFL sales in Kerala.
We expect more people to turn to God during the economic crisis. Hence, a heavy turnout is expected in the coming months," said a spokesperson of the Sehiyon Retreat Centre, Palakkad.
"In Kerala, people have a tendency to heavily depend on God and liquor during a crisis. The trend is likely to go up when the impact of recession becomes more severe," says Dr C J John, a consultant psychiatrist in Kochi. "The state has a migrating community which moves from one retreat centre/pilgrim centre to another in search of panacea for their problems. That group keeps the spiritual centres filled throughout the year," added John.

Technopark gets Healthier

Concerned with the rising health issues among the young professionals working in the IT Industry, the Group of Technopark Companies (GTECH) in association with the Kerala State IT Mission, is organising a Session on ‘Healthy Life style at IT Workplaces’ on 12th February 2009 at the Technopark Campus. Represented by CEO’s of all companies in Technopark Trivandrum, GTECH is an apex organisation founded in 2000 to promote the cause of the community of IT companies in Kerala.

According to Binu Sankar, CEO of GTECH, “The main objective of this session is to bring together the HR professionals, Health Experts and select health organisations on a common platform, and to discuss the concept of maintaining a healthy life style at the workplace. I hope we will be able to sensitise the Technopark Community on Health and Wellness at the IT Workplace”.

The session on ‘Healthy Life style at IT Workplaces’ will include discussions and presentations on the foundation of creating a healthy workforce, which will dwell on prevention of lifestyle diseases, Healthy Nutrition and Stress Management. The half day programme will see a leading Cardiologist, Diabetologist and also an Industrial Psychologist, among others, making presentations on preventive strategies to the Techies.

Spreading the awareness on preventing lifestyle diseases associated with the IT industry seems to be the best HR initiative which companies can offer. After all, prevention is better than cure!

The Global Economic Slowdown and Kerala's IT Industry

The Global Economic Slowdown
and Kerala’s IT Industry
The Urgent Need for a Stimulus Package

Kerala IT Industry

An annual turnover of about Rs. 1,500 crores
Direct employment to about 60,000 people
30-35,000 Technical workforce, of which 20,000 are in
Technopark and 8,000 in Infopark
10,000 non-technical workforce estimated conservatively
A much larger number of indirect jobs
A “high-quality” employer

Still much smaller than Karnataka, AP and TN which are
Each over 30 times Kerala’s IT industry
With the right blend of policies, Kerala can attract a higher Share of the industry
Conversely, if the policy regime is uncompetitive, the Industry will experience poor growth

Technopark

The first IT Park in the country
The prime destination for IT in Kerala, and a centre of
Excellence in the country
A major share of IT industry in Kerala (80% of IT turnover)
Largest IT employer (70%)

GTECH

A charitable society registered under the 1955 Act.
Members are Technopark companies
Has a full-time CEO and programmes for members as well as community
Companies have direct programmes for CSR and joint programmes for the larger community through GTech

GTECH Recent Programme

Some recent programmes include:
SafeDrive@Technopark (Dec 2007)
Investment opportunities in Germany (May 2008)
Green Computing Initiative (July 2008)
Employability Enhancement for People with Disabilities (7 Aug 2008)
Interaction with Venzuelan Minister (24 Aug 2008)
Session on TerraCotta (12 Sept 2008)
Venture Capital Summit (10-11 November 2008)
HIV/AIDS Awareness (12 Dec 2008)

GTECH Programme Planned for 2009

Programmes planned for 2009 include:
Healthy Livestyles in IT (12 Feb 2009)
Session of Food Quality in Technopark
Session on Corporate Governance
Social Conclave: IT in Development
Conclave on Changing Role of HR Professionals
Session on CSR and Global Reporting Initiative
Vision 2020: Kerala As a Knowledge Hub
Kerala Venture Capital Summit 2009

The Slowdown

steep drop in GDP throughout the world
Negative growth in many parts of the world
India, however, expects to retain growth at about 6-7%
Most target countries of Indian IT exports are hit
The impact on Indian companies will be differential—some companies will continue to grow, while others may scale down
Overall, the Indian IT Industry’s growth may come down to around 10
Expected to last until end of 2009

Impact on Kerala

Many export-oriented industries in Kerala (including Tourism, IT, spices, seafood and rubber) may be hit
For firms in the IT Industry, survival depends upon Retaining global competitiveness
Cost control becomes an imperative for the IT industry, and this requires operational flexibility

Response from the Industry

During this period, IT Companies may have to resort to Serious cost cutting, through steps such as:
Reduction of operating costs
Reduction or stagnation of remuneration
Reducing recruitment
Enhancing productivity
As a last resort in protecting the remaining employees,
Termination of services of some employees

Government Response

All over the world, governments are supporting their Industry to cope with the slowdown
GTech fully understands the concerns of GoK such as Equity and social justice in employment
However, GTech maintains that operational flexibility and Freedom is of paramount importance competing in global Markets
In any case, no company likes to get rid of people that they have invested in


This is the time

We stress that the GoK should take immediate action that is decisive and substantive
We enumerate below some steps that could make a Positive difference


Specific Measures

Incentivize new companies for infrastructure (for example, a 6-month rent holiday)
For existing companies, immediately stop rent escalation
Rentals are rapidly falling in different parts of the world. IT
Parks should also consider reduction of rental to the tune of about 30%
Ease restrictions on the use of power

Treat Technopark as an Essential Service to minimize Disruption
Clarify the legal frameworks that companies are requested to comply with
Where laws are anachronistic, amend them, re-legislate, or provide exemptions for the IT Industry
Be more sensitive in dealing with companies so as not to Hurt their reputations. In particular, directly going to the Media without a due process should be avoid

Have a dispute resolution mechanism within Technopark, with industry participation, so as to resolve internal issues
Have an out-placement mechanism for placing people in Other companies
To protect local jobs, modify the IT policy guidelines to Permit Technopark companies to take up e-governance Projects for the GoK and quasi-government agencies
Based on clearly stipulated criteria Persuade the Government of India to extend the STPI Framework for another three years
Withdraw sales tax on software products and services

Technopark Administration

Companies are the primary stakeholders within the Technopark Community
It is strange and undemocratic that the Technopark Governance systems completely keep out the primary Stakeholder
For this reason, Technopark companies request that there is representation in the Technopark administration from the Companies

In Summary

The worldwide economic scenario is grim
Kerala’s fledgling Software Industry is facing serious Threats that may set it back substantially
However, it is also clear that once the downturn is over, the IT Industry will bounce back
Starting immediately, and for the duration of the downturn, IT Industry seeks a stimulus package
This will protect the Industry, protect jobs, and ensure that the Industry is still robust when the downturn is over