Technopark changes
By Kerala IT News

Kerala’s new Industries and IT Minister, Shri P K Kunhalikutty, has said that the functioning of Technopark in Trivandrum had gone out of the hands of the State Government and it needs to be reined in. He also indicated that the UDF government was preparing for a major shift in the IT policy with a focus on industry promotion and e-governance.

The Minister was interacting with the media during his first ‘Meet the Press’ programme at the Thiruvananthapuram Press Club. He said several e-governance initiatives of the LDF government would be reviewed while admitting that some e-governance proposals had run into problems.

Kunhalikutty also said that the Kerala State IT Mission is now overstaffed. He had run the organisation successfully with bare minimum employees during his previous tenure as the IT Minister. The IT Mission hasn’t got a full time Director since October 2010. The Secretary, Environment Department, Government of Kerala holds the additional charge of Director, IT Mission. In fact, even the IT Department does not have a full time Secretary since December 2010. The Secretary, Personnel and Administrative Reforms (Official Languages) holds the additional charge of the Secretary, IT Department.

On SmartCity Kochi project, he said that the State had lost a major opportunity in the last five years as the previous Government almost killed the project. The Government might review the agreement with Tecom, the promoters of the SmartCity Kochi project, after meeting them on June 23, 2011.

Finally he welcomed the idea of using the Internet to make the Department more transparent, interactive and citizen friendly.

(In Techgoss syndication arrangement with Keralaitnews.com )