Prasad dismisses large-scale IT layoff reports as 'motivated'

Dismissing the reports of large scale job losses in the Indian IT sector, Union IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Friday said these complaints are “motivated”.

“There has been a lot of debate, and by any standards of economy, this talk of job decline in the IT sector is motivated,” Prasad said after a meeting with the captains of the Indian IT and electronics sector to discuss the issue of the country’s digital economy.

The IT sector in India is growing, employing 40 lakh people directly. “By 2014-25, the government aims to create additional 65 lakh jobs and we are confident that we will succeeded in achieving this target,” he said.

The country’s IT sector has crossed Rs 10 lakh crore in revenue and exports have crossed Rs 7.5 lakh crore, the minister said.

“The government is in constant touch with the IT sector and they have clarified that there is no large scale job losses. Tata Consultancy Services and Infosys clarified that companies continue to hire,” the minister said, adding that IT companies have told the government that those people have poor skills have been removed.