AGARTALA / NEW DELHI, March 22 (TIWN): Unfortunately for Tripura’s 7 Lakhs unemployed youth, IT educated graduates, Tripura Govt headed by IT illiterate Chief Minister failed to capitalize the golden opportunity of making Agartala as destination of IT Industry in Northeast India as Tripura’s name listed nowhere in the latest report published by Internet and Mobile Association of India. The report, Index of Internet Readiness of Indian States’, was published by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and Indicus Analytics. Internet readiness index is a composite index on components like e-infrastructure index, e-participation index, IT-services and e-governance index.

Even though Modi Govt chosen Agartala as the location for prestigious 3rd Internet gateway of India but lameduck CPI-M Govt failed to make any inroads to build infrastructure and participation of IT Industry in Tripura. Failure of Manik Govt in building necessary infrastructures for IT Industry in Tripura will cause massive setbacks in boosting economy, also missing a golden opportunity to generate large scale employments to IT educated young generation.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bangladesh Premier Sheikh Hasina was instrumental in shaping the important agreement which was signed in Dhaka on June 6 between the BSCCL and BSNL for leasing of international bandwidth for internet at Akhaura.

Even though 3rd Internet gateway is operational since a year but State’s lameduck Industry Ministry led by Tapan Chakraborty, Industry Secretary Nagaraju remained clueless on how State Govt should proceed about rapid development of IT Industry in Tripura.

Union Communications and Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on July 11, 2014 laid the foundation stone in Agartala  for the third international internet gateway (IIG) through Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh.

“Therefore, much more needs to be done in the form of investment and infrastructure development in the Northeast region,” the IAMAI report stated.

As per the report, among the smaller states, Delhi has emerged as the topmost state in terms of Internet readiness index, followed by Puducherry and Goa. 

Maharashtra has emerged as the top ranking state in terms of overall Internet readiness index, followed by Karnataka, Gujarat, Telengana and Tamil Nadu, according to a report unveiled in New Delhi.

Among the Union Territories, Chandigarh is ranked top in terms of Internet readiness index.

The purpose of the report was to help the business and governments to leverage the strength, policy measures can also be taken where improvements are required.

“Given the rapid advancement in e-services and e-commerce, it is essential to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the states,” the report said.

“Internet readiness in this study is not limited to how industry friendly each state is for investment in the IT sector, but aims to give a more holistic picture of the digital ecosphere that presently exists in the states. 

"This stems from the understanding that only an organic linkage between the digital world and the real world can lead to the development and wellbeing that digitalization promises to deliver,” the report stated.

Indian government has spent Rs.20 crore to create the infrastructure, including laying of OFC to avail the 10 gigabit bandwidth from Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Limited (BSCCL).

Tripura’s biggest drawback as it stands today is that,  from Chief Minister Manik Sarkar  to IT Minister Tapan Chakraborty to IT Secretary Puneet Agarwal or Industry Secretary Nagaraju– none have any visions on IT, never visited even once in past decades to IT Summits or  headquarters at Bangalore, Hyderabad, Bombay based IT companies or interested to build or invite them to invest  in Tripura