Maharashtra | 'Ajit Pawar voiced our concern, high time to transform basic infrastructure of Hinjewadi,' says FITE's Pavanjit Mane

"Today reaching from Pune city to Hinjewadi may be a hellish experience because of the traffic mess. We request the government to establish a well-planned transit hub in this region, which would benefit everyone," Mane told DH.

Hinjewadi in Pune, considered the Silicon Valley of Maharashtra is facing multiple issues and competition from IT hubs in other parts of the country, like Bengaluru and Hyderabad.

For the last quarter of a century, Hinjewadi (also spelled Hinjawadi), which houses the Rajiv Gandhi Infotech Park, a large tech and business park spread over 2,800 acres, has been an example of India’s IT story. However, now it faces problems and the admission has come from none other than deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, who is the state’s finance and planning minister and also the guardian minister of Pune district.

"…we are ruined. The entire IT park of Hinjewadi is moving out. It's going out of Pune, out of Maharashtra to Bengaluru, Hyderabad, don't you care at all?” Pawar recently remarked. 

In his backdrop, DH's Mrityunjay Bose spoke to Pavanjit Mane, the Maharashtra president of Forum of IT Employees (FITE), a pressure group of the IT/ITES sector. 

Read excerpts below

Has the statement of deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar shocked you?

We have been raising issues, flagging concerns from time to time. Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar know the issue. In fact, Ajit Dada voiced our concern. It is high time that things are set right through a course correction. 

What are the issues in Hinjewadi IT hub?

Pune is Maharashtra’s cultural capital and IT hub. The IT park, which was created by the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation,  has been in operation for around 25 years. It's huge.

There are more than 250 companies which work from here which include offices of the giants and leaders of the sector.

Around four to five lakh people work here. There are residential facilities and more than one lakh people stay there. In fact, there are 10 schools. There are shops, stores, people involved in housekeeping, cabs, autorickshaws. More housing facilities are coming up and more people are going to come and stay here. There are issues like roads, traffic mess, infrastructure bottlenecks, power cuts, civic issues, water supply problems and much more. 

Do you feel that Hinjewadi, which is part of Mulshi tehsil should be included in the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation?
What we want is proper administration and a holistic view of the issue. Whether it is Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority, Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation or any other body, the needs have to be  addressed.

Today reaching from Pune city to Hinjewadi may be a hellish experience because of the traffic mess. We request the government to establish a well-planned transit hub in this region, which would benefit everyone.

What about the monsoon?

During monsoon, the problem compounds. It's an actual mess. In fact our campaign even caught the attention of Fadnavis Saheb. We are regularly in touch with Ajit Dada. They are sympathetic to the issues. In fact, some people have left jobs in Hinjewadi and shifted to other companies, other cities.

Even Indian professionals, who hail from Pune and work abroad, have expressed concern over the situation. There are multiple agencies involved, and a common person has to face difficulties, they have to run pillar to post. The IT park should not become a water park.