"That is a startling fact. People spend many many years, time and money in education. He (a candidate) has knowledge and skills. But that does not relate with industry's requirement.

"Why do I (a candidate) need to go back and learn a bit of programming, mathematics and communication skills... spending so many years of time and money in education? I must say the education system, particularly in the last few decades, has not quite succeeded," Karnik, a former NASSCOM chief, said.

"The (IT) industry keeps on saying we cannot get people who are employable. Have they conveyed what are the contents to be included in educating a candidate?.. This is what we have been looking for... I don't think industry has done that," he said.

Co-ordinated efforts should be taken by the IT industry and academia for making fresh engineering graduates employable, Karnik said while delivering the inaugural address at a seminar "ICTACT BRIDGE 2012", organised by ICT Academy and the National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) here.

Noting that India's educational system was traditional, he said, "the communication skills of our students, even the bright ones are not adequate. Today you (a candidate) have to articulate well. That is a very important in the IT industry".

Favouring the setting up of more BPO units in rural areas, he said talent is available in villages and the prospects are phenomenon for an IT company.

Quoting a study, he said this year the IT industry is expected to grow at 16.3 per cent and set to reach USD 225 billion by 2020 from the present USD 69 billion.

Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu IT Secretary Ramesh Kumar Khanna said the government is working with the industry officials on the proposed ICT policy.

"We are currently discussing with the industry. Probably, we will be able to bring out that soon...", he said, adding the government is laying special emphasis on IT-related issues particularly in e-governance initiatives.

"We are giving special focus to our e-governance policies. The chief minister's free laptop scheme (to Class 12 students) has been received very well," he said.