Government of India launched AI Center of Excellence at IIT, Kanpur, IIT, Ropar and IIT, Delhi while overlooking tech capital, Bengaluru.
Published Oct 17, 2024 | 4:44 PM ⚊ Updated Oct 17, 2024 | 4:44 PM
@TVMohandasPai and @svembu on 'x'
Bengaluru and Hyderabad are competing to become the Artificial Intelligence capital of India but the union government wants Centres of Excellence in AI elsewhere. The union government’s decision has left Bengaluru entrepreneurs fuming. They took to their social media pages to vent their ire only for another entrepreneur to come to the Union government’s defense.
Hitting out at Mohandas Pai’s post on X that the South has been neglected in the setting up of an AI Centre of Excellence, Sridhar Vembu responded that, “The responsibility for this decision on the AI Centres of Excellence should be with us in the committee and personally with me as Co-chair and I beg people to not inject North-South politics in this.”
On Tuesday, the Government of India had launched AI Center of Excellence at 3 prominent institutions, namely CoE in Sustainable Cities at IIT, Kanpur, CoE in Agriculture at IIT, Ropar and CoE in Healthcare, jointly at IIT, Delhi and AIIMS, Delhi.
Mohandas Pai took to X to lambast the Union government for its alleged bias towards the South and Bengaluru. “Minister @dpradhanbjp nothing in Bengaluru, the technology capital of India? Why are you and @AshwiniVaishnaw ignoring the South in IT, ignoring Bengaluru? Are we not part of Bharat too?,” he asked.
He went on to add, “Bengaluru voted for NDA but all we get is step motherly treatment. Citizens here are very angry and upset at you folks repeatedly ignoring us in the South! Are we children of a lesser God here? We need our PM @narendramodi @PMOIndia to intervene, give us our share too.”
He questioned BJP MPs, “@Tejasvi_Surya @PCMohanMP @hd_kumaraswamy @nsitharaman @what are our MP’s doing?
“For voting NDA our state govt too is ignoring us! Not investing enough in Bengaluru!” he wrote.
Minister @dpradhanbjp nothing in Bengaluru, the technology capital of India? Why are you and @AshwiniVaishnaw ignoring the South in IT, ignoring Bengaluru? Are we not part of Bharat too? Bengaluru voted for NDA but all we get is step motherly treatment. Citizens here are very… https://t.co/31dQ9V3Ois
— Mohandas Pai (@TVMohandasPai) October 16, 2024
Echoing Pai’s comments, Naresh Pais, CEO of Kensaltensi in Bengaluru compared this decision to not including India in the UN Security Council. He writes, “Complete rubbish. Even those IIT’ans have to come to #Bengaluru to complete the work they start in those CoE.”
He added, “Not including Bengaluru(India largest software exporter) is exactly the same as the UN security council not including India(world biggest democracy) as a permanent member.”
Complete rubbish. Even those IIT’ans have to come to #Bengaluru to complete the work they start in those CoE.
Not including Bengaluru(India largest software exporter) is exactly the same as the UN security council not including India(world biggest democracy) as a permanent…
— Naresh (@nareshpais) October 16, 2024
Sridhar Vembu responded on X to Pai’s post saying, “I want to respond to this because I was the Co-chair of the apex committee that decided the 3 AI Centres of Excellence.”
He also added, “The committee itself had plenty of us from the South (probably the majority). Most of us came from the private sector and the Government did not tell us who we should select. We in the committee (again with so many of us from the South and so many from the private sector) did the selection based on a very thorough evaluation of actual projects done.”
On Pai’s South bias, Vembu writes, “The responsibility for this decision on the AI Centres of Excellence should be with us in the committee and personally with me as Co-chair and I beg people to not inject North-South politics in this ”
“IISc Bengaluru, IIT Chennai, NIT Calicut, IIT Hyderabad, IIT Mumbai all presented very strong proposals but the ones we selected stood out in the end. The committee was unanimous in this decision. We stand by our judgment.”
I want to respond to this because I was the Co-chair of the apex committee that decided the 3 AI Centres of Excellence.
The committee itself had plenty of us from the South (probably the majority). Most of us came from the private sector and the Government did not tell us who we… https://t.co/yaqHdQUtie
— Sridhar Vembu (@svembu) October 17, 2024
Vembu further clarified that the consortiums selected include southern institutions as well. “For instance the AI CoE on Health led by the AIIMS consortium included IISc Bengaluru and IIT Chennai.”
Another member of the Committee, Dr. Manish Gupta, Director of Google DeepMind based in Bengaluru supported Vembu on X writing that the decision was taken keeping in mind what was good for India. “I fully endorse @svembu’s views on this matter. As a member of the committee that made the selections, I fully stand by our collective decisions. We made our decisions based on what we felt was good for *India*,” he wrote.
I fully endorse @svembu‘s views on this matter. As a member of the committee that made the selections, I fully stand by our collective decisions. We made our decisions based on what we felt was good for *India*. https://t.co/KOIzg9474E
— Manish Gupta (@ManishGuptaMG1) October 17, 2024
Sources in the Karnataka state BJP, South First spoke to, said that Pai’s sudden change of heart is mostly due to his inclusion as member of the expert committee of the Karnataka government’s ambitious KHIR (Knowledge-Health-Innovation-Research) City Project.
Sharath Bachegowda, Congress Hosakote MLA and Chairman, KEONICS speaking to South First said, “A step-motherly attitude is being used by the Central government towards Karnataka and particularly towards Bengaluru.”
Sharath says that when it comes to quantum computing, AI and much more, the city that should be doing all this is Bengaluru. “This is where the skill pool is, the talent pool and education institutions are and where the industry is. So, what is the point in taking it to some place where there is no talent pool available,” he questioned.
“I think what Pai says resonates. So, it is a step-motherly attitude towards Karnataka and non-BJP states,” he added.
If state governments were taken into confidence before making this decision, Sharath says definitely not. “If not Bengaluru as a preferred destination, there is still Hyderabad and Chennai. You give up places like this which have historical strengths in STEM fields and you go to areas where STEM has never been given any importance at all, it is a ludicrous decision,” he tells South First.
(Edited by Ananya Rao)
