A report dated August 25, 2010 in the New York Times makes the point that India’s success in Information Technology is leading to a poor infrastructure of “potholed roadways, collapsing bridges, rickety railroads and a power grid so unreliable that many modern office buildings run their own diesel generators to make sure the lights and computers stay on.”
According to the report, the reason is not lack of money but lack of civil engineers. In an earlier age, civil engineering was an elite occupation in India. In today’s India, however, even qualified civil engineers might be writing software code for a Japanese automaker.
The huge difference in pay received by engineers who write code for foreign clients and those who work on India’s infrastructural projects has meant that there is a serious shortage of civil engineers working in the infrastructure sector. And the sector is showing the results in the form of roads unfit to drive in. The rainwater-filled potholes on the road can even pose danger to life and limb during the monsoons.
Poor infrastructure is affecting industries that require good road and rail networks. Even more importantly, it leads to lower quality life for the general populace, most of who live in villages away from the healthcare and other conveniences available in urban centers.
Of course there are other reasons also for the poor infrastructure, such as poor planning and corruption. However, shortage of civil engineers is an important contributor to the problem.
Read the report at New York Times.
