No point in complaining, India should gear up to face IT protectionism: Pranab Mukherjee

President Pranab Mukherjee today said there was no point in complaining about IT talent related protectionism by some countries and India has to prepare itself to face such challenges in the future. Stressing on the importance of basic research and innovation, he said unless the required investments were made in these areas, the country cannot make further progress.

Delivering the convocation address at the Indian Institute of Science here, he noted India occupied an important place in the sector and had some advantages initially because of the skills of its IT professionals. “Therefore there is no point of saying that certain countries are changing their policies about the immigration, movement of the skilled personnel from one country to another and we are now losing jobs which were exclusively enjoyed by us in the initial years. “We shall have to be ready for these types of challenges coming in the future not from one or two countries but from all across the world. Therefore we require excellent teachers, bright students and conducive atmosphere which are most important in the academic life,” he added.

His comments assume significance in view of the curbs imposed by the United States on grant of H1B visas. Pointing …read more