Software exports from Tier-II cities in the State have gone up from Rs.445 crore in 2008-09 to Rs.908 crore in 2009-10, said Minister for Information and Technology Poongothai Aladi Aruna on Tuesday.
Launching a career portal, she said the Chief Minister was keen that the IT and ITES development should not be city-centric or urban-centric and there should be a level playing field by taking the IT revolution to Tier II and III cities.
To ensure that villages are not kept out of the IT domain, the Chief Minister has envisioned rural BPOs taking IT to the villages and the government has come out with a blueprint. “There is nothing wrong in making technology a cottage industry.”
Ms. Poongothai said software exports had grown 1.5 times from Rs.13,500 crore in 2005-06 and 476 new IT units were set up in the past four-and-half years.
The State had opened the floodgates of higher education in the past four years and was striving to create quality to improve the employability of graduates.
The government would organise job fairs from next month. She said that the Labour Department had been entrusted with the task of imparting skills to one lakh persons and making them employable.
V. Murugan, founder-director, Career One Solutions India Private Limited, explained the features of the portal www.careerplatinum.com.
Pradeep K. Saxena, regional head, Syndicate Bank; and A. Kumar, deputy general manager (projects), Chennai Petroleum Corporation Limited, participated.
