Another remarkable change which has come over in some of the Indian companies is that the chief executives and managing directors are committed to solving the Y2K problem. So, it is no more an engineer-engineer job, rather it is an initiative from the top of the company. Also, it's being gradually realised that the corrective measure must be a collective effort and not an isolated solution. These were some of the observations made by Subodh Bhargava, Group Chief Executive, Eicher Goodearth Ltd, at a talk on Y2K recently. K B Dadiseth, Chairman, Hindustan Lever Ltd (HLL), had some interesting predictions to roll out, indicating the seriousness of the Y2K problem. Dadiseth said 500 million computers around the world would be affected by theMillennium bug; 20 per cent of the small business all over may face liquidation; and everything from factories to railway signals, wage computation to promotions, electricity bills to credit card records, will go haywire. HLL being one of the few companies in India to take up the issue well in time, it has already spent over Rs 60 crore on Y2K.

Its plan of action: Through four R's -- retire, replace, re-engineer and repair -- HLL will have Y2K compliance by October 1998. The company has even requested its vendors and all those connected to comply. To make sure that the system is in place, HLL will soon fast forward to year 2000. So, any glitches which will come up during the fast forward session can be corrected well before the year 2000.

Besides HLL, those nearing Y2K compliance include ANZ Grindlays Bank and IBM. Tata Iron & Steel Co (Tisco) is another company to have taken up the Y2K project full swing. And all these companies have come to one conclusion. That is, the deadline to solve the Y2K crisisis not January 1, 2000, but January 1, 1999. For any company will need at least one year of testing before achieving 100 per cent fool-proof compliance. In other words, only six months to go. So those who have not done anything about the problem so far, will find the going tough because there's no time left for planning any more. Meanwhile, in the absence of any government initiative to take up the issue, individuals and companies can visit a few significant Internet sites instead. Take for example www.open.gov.uk/bug2000.htm -- this is an official UK government site, recommended by Judith Slater, First Secretary - Press, British High Commission. This site gives you a seven-step plan, which can be followed in any organisation, irrespective of size.