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KOLKATA, Dec. 2

THE Convergence Bill is unlikely to be taken up for discussion in Parliament before May 2003, according to the Union Minister for Information Technology, Communications and Parliamentary Affairs, Mr Pramod Mahajan.

Speaking to newspersons after the formal inauguration of Infocom 2002 on Sunday, Mr Mahajan said the Standing Committee of the Ministry was of the opinion that several issues of concern in the Bill need to be discussed and deliberated upon before a decision on contentious provisions are taken.

Mr Mahajan said that, based on feedback from the industry, it was felt that the appropriateness of having a super regulator as envisaged needs to be given a fresh look.

``The super regulator in its present form has control over both carriage and content. The industry feels that while control over carriage is okay, it may not be wise to leave control over content also in the hands of a few people. In fact, I am not sure if similar regulatory authorities in other nations have control over content,'' he said.

According to him, Parliament will have its hands full with important business in the forthcoming winter session followed by the Budget session. ``Only after that can we find time to discuss concerns on some of the provisions in the proposed legislation, such as having a super regulator who will have control over content and carriage,'' he said.

Earlier, inaugurating Infocom 2002, a three-day conference on information technology being held here jointly by Nasscom and Businessworld, Mr Mahajan said it would be imperative to ``take IT from the South to the North, from the West to the East, from the rich to the poor and from the classes to the masses''.

While India had made its mark in the global IT arena, it has a long way to go in the domestic sector. ``Indians are in IT, but IT is not in India. That is the lopsidedness in the Indian IT revolution''. India, he said, has made a pitch to host the World IT Conference 2008.

He said to facilitate e-enablement in the North-East, mobile telephony would be permitted in the region from August 15, 2003. The Union Cabinet has accorded its go ahead in this regard. Till now, with the exception of Guwahati, cellular services are not permitted in the North-East on security concerns.

Stating that barely five per cent of India's potential in the IT sector has been exploited, the Minister stressed upon the need for states in the region, especially West Bengal, to hardsell their offerings with a view to attracting investment in their respective IT sectors.

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