Sunday, January 18, 2009

IT - A Disaster to the Masses?

The emergence of Information Technology is a boon to the industrial world and the economy of several nations. The extent to which IT has leveraged the GDP of some developing nations of the world is phenomenal. The life standards of thousands of families in these nations have improved and so has the flow of money into the markets. Notwithstanding this, the net effect of the IT industry on the lower sections of the society remains murky.
Four years ago, we shifted to a local suburb, 10Kms from the city. What was a high price for a family to pay as rent is now no amount when compared to the alarming sums that are demanded by the landlords. The reason is the emergence of IT parks and buildings in the neighbourhood in which the employees get heavy pay packages. They flock to the nearby areas in search of accommodation space. The prices of essential commodities like food, medicine and that of transport has risen unreasonably. The pathetic part of it is that there is not a single soul who would raise his voice against the price rise. Those who pay out such high prices for essential commodities, do so unmindful of the lower sections of the society that struggle to make ends meet.
With a steady increase in demand for space, land prices have also risen making the dream of a house a dream forever, for many. With people flocking to the city in huge numbers from different places for jobs, the woes of the over-burdened class of the society will continue to fall in deaf ears. If this is what IT has in store for the people of my neighbourhood, I guess it will be a disaster to the masses when we speak of world at large.