Punjab plans to rope in Nandan Nilekani to head IT task force

MOHALI: The Punjab government is planning to rope in Nandan Nilekani, non-executive chairman of Infosys, to head the proposed special task force for chalking out a roadmap to develop Mohali as an information technology (IT) hub.
This was shared by Punjab IT minister Vijay Inder Singla during IT and Electronics Industry Meet at STPI Incubation Centre on Wednesday.

“The task force should be headed by an eminent personality from IT field.I will talk to Nilekani to head it,” Singla said. “The task force will be a boost to the IT industry in Punjab. Our primary focus is to create a congenial environment for IT industry,” he said.
Entrepreneurs lauded minister’s plan of including the IT veteran in the task force. Sofi Zahoor of QuarkXPress commented that the state’s power would increase manifold with industry and government working together on time-bound goals. Kumara Guru, director, marketing communications, Indian School of Business, Mohali, asked the minister to enable lateral movement of workforce from private to public sector on the lines of Andhra Pradesh government, where the special chief secretary and IT adviser has previously served as head of leading IT companies. Guru said, “A chief innovation officer can be appointed for Punjab. It will help the state to position itself better as an IT hub.”