Finance Minister T.M. Thomas Isaac laid out a plan for development of decentralised IT parks and work near home centres.
Taking forward the work near home scheme, which was implemented as a stopgap measure during the pandemic period by converting resorts to work stations, he said buildings of at least 5,000 sq ft at the block or municipal level could be converted to such work stations on a permanent basis. An amount of ₹20 crore was earmarked for this.
Opportunities will be created for companies to recruit employees for centralised or decentralised jobs. Details of such professionals and trained persons will be made available on a digital platform.
The government will provide loans to selected candidates for purchase of computer and peripherals for their job. In case of job loss, they need to repay the amount only after securing the next job.
Any possible losses to financial institutions on account of this will be compensated by the government.
Bigger IT parks
Even as the budget emphasised the importance of decentralised IT parks, it set aside funds for the development of bigger parks, with allocations of ₹22 crore for the development of Technopark, ₹36 crore for Infopark, and ₹12 crore for Cyber Park.
Dr. Isaac said eight new companies were newly started at Technopark providing employment to around 2,000 IT professionals. Quantiphi, a multinational company, would start operations in the first quarter of 2021.
Forty companies providing employment to 2,000 people were started in Infopark.
Most prominent among them is Ortho Effects, a dental company based in the United States.
