Nagarajan Vittal

IT catalyst

N Vittal will always be remembered as the liberator of DoE. When Vittal took
over as secretary of DoE in 1990, Indian IT was yet to come in full bloom though
the vital signs were quite there. He was instrumental in reducting telecom
charges for satellite links, exemption from profit tax on software and services
exports, zero excise rates from software sold. These proved to be catalysts in
India becoming a software superpower. His DoE track record prompted his move to
DoT where he did not disappoint too with the National Telecom Policy '94. This
tireless crusader might have retired from public service as the Chief Vigilance
Commissioner, where he used IT to share up the establishment, but surely as a
social ombudsman he is long way retiring from public life.