Mahajan: More than a catalyst to IT industry

Pragati Simlote

NEW

DELHI: With the demise of Pramod Mahajan, who succumbed to bullet injuries today

at the P.D. Hinduja Hospital in Mumbai, India has lost a man who was more than a

catalyst to the growth of the Indian IT industry.

For the former IT minister of India, IT was neither a fashion nor a passion,

but a mission to make India a dominant global player. With the aim of taking IT

to the masses, Mahajan was instrumental in tabling the IT Act 2000, which

enabled India go into the 'e' mode.

Mahajan, who was named the DataQuest Man of the Year 2001, hailed from

Maharashtra and was once considered close to the leader L K Advani. Some time

back, he shifted his allegiance to Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who also called him “Laxman”,

the younger brother of Rama. He had set the ball rolling in no time by raising

the sails of his ministry to the gutsy winds that were blowing during those

times and reaped good speed.

Fifty-six-year-old Mahajan was battling for life since April 22 when his

younger brother Pravin allegedly shot him from point blank range. Mahajan's

liver, pancreas and intestine were damaged in the attack.

When Mahajan was appointed minister for IT, the late Dewang Mehta, founder

president of national association of software and service companies (NASSCOM)

had commented: "Now we have the right person at the helm. We should be

really happy."

He began his career as a teacher in a rural

district of Maharashtra, went on to take center stage in Indian politics.

When the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) came to power, there was some

friction between Ram Vilas Paswan and Mahajan. Paswan was then holding the

communication portfolio. There was a visible tug-of-war between an expansionist

Mahajan wanted communications ministry and the IT ministry to be merged, and a

socialist Paswan who sunbathed in the telecom revolution resisted.

Mahajan succeeded in merging IT and communication portfolios and retaining

the expanded ministry. He also got through the Convergence Bill, which spelt out

keystone policies regarding Internet telephony.

The biggest credit to date is his role in getting MediaAsia Labs to India,

beating several contenders in Asia including China. Few people also remember

that he worked towards removing bureaucracy from the policy.

"Roti, kapda, makaan aur Internet," was a favorite slogan of

Mahajan, which he picked up from his friend Dewang Mehta. He became the mascot

for India's ambition of becoming a software super power.

When the rest of the world reeled under a tech backlash, Mahajan picked a

leaf out of his friend Mehta's book and kept the flag of optimism flying high.

For the IT industry that loves to say, "We grew despite the

government," Mahajan was merely a catalyst. He was a strong votary of

government spending in e-governance and had promised funds for all states. He

was very technology savvy as well, during his days as the IT minister, he would

proudly hand you his visiting card, that was a small CDROM, which had complete

information on him. He was very excited about the future of smart-cards, that

carried complete information of an individual.

Mahajan was pushing for a three per cent government budgetary allocation for

e-governance projects.

However, Mahajan's impressions were deeper in the communication industry.

The standoff between the first TRAI panel and himself and the subsequent

reconstitution of TRAI is legendary. He was about to cross paths yet again with

TRAI this time with the interconnect charges imbroglio. He mooted the idea of

merging BSNL and MTNL thereby sending a shock wave in a fissured telecom

industry.

Mahajan also locked horns with basic operators on the issue of extending

services to villages. He was also pushing for a 74 per cent FDI in telecom in

the place of 24 per cent.

Just when everything was looking great for Mahajan, the first blow came in

the form of the murder case of a woman journalist in Delhi, in which his name

was dragged in to. The shadow was too deep. Later, came the battle with cellular

operators and the basic operators on WLL-Cell interconnect charges.

Mahajan was seen backing the cause of the basic service providers. Some in

the industry also accused him of hobnobbing with Reliance when its Infocomm

services set the sector on fire.

Mahajan was a shrewd politician. How can one forget the picture of a cell

phone toting Mahajan promising people that BJP will get enough support during

Vajpayee's 13-day government saga. During the 13-day first BJP ministry at the

centre, he was credited with managing to get sizeable MPs to pledge their

loyalties to the BJP-led government then.

For BJP, a suave, media friendly, witty, measured Mahajan was a boon in the

field than in the South Block. He was never a mass-based leader, at the last go,

he had lost the Lok Sabha elections from Mumbai, much to the embarrassment of

BJP. But that did not deter him, he was also the first one to own up the fall of

the BJP, the “India Shining” campaign was his brain-child.

Later, he helped BJP pocket Rajasthan. He was the 'healthy' face of the

BJP, a party whose most of the senior leaders were in the grip of many ailments.

And his stars in the party were on the ascendancy; he had successfully

campaigned in Assam for over six months. While the other leaders in the party

were on the wane, he seemed to be the man for all seasons.

But then, death came in the form of three bullets shot by his younger

brother, cutting short the life of man who rose from rags to riches — who

could have otherwise even gone on to become the prime minister of India.

(With inputs from Shashwat Chaturvedi in Mumbai)

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