He said the nation's IT policy should serve all sections of the society, the small scale industrialists, self-employed, farmers, students and even housewives and could be best done in their languages. This could generate new business and employment too.

Inaugurating a day-long seminar on making "Gujarat an Infromation Technology (IT) Powerhouse of the New Millenium" here, he cautioned the nation against accepting the western modules, heavily loaded in favour of english language and western culture. The people could learn english in six months to be computer literate. Joshi said the Nation had to be cautious against stepping into the trap laid by Americans who now proclaim that since they contolled the IT they should control theworld.

They are trying to force upon the rest of the world their dress, food habits, music and culture. They are doing it for their survival. And, unfortunately, we are accepting them.

He said it was time we developed software in our languages. Bengali is now a world language. Tamil is spoken in Malayasia, Indonesia and Sri Lanka. And Gujarati is spoken wherever Gujaratis lived.Delivering the keynote address, central vigilance commissioner N Vittal said that it was about time for respective state governments to enact cyber law, if necessary, through ordinances, so that many of the Act which call for documnetation on paper could also be accepted on computers. He said the Cyber Law Committee Report was under consideration of the government.

He said that all items liable to sales tax should have a bar code. This would encourage use of computers in industry and business as has been recommended in the first report of National Task Force on IT.Vittal, who has been appointed as chairman of Advisory Council forIT in Kerala said the Kerala state government has decided to make trhe state an Intelligent State in 1,000 days, making a 100 per cent literate state into a 100 per cent computer literate state too.

As it would require huge capital, he said, the government could go for allowing the private leasing companies to provide, teach and maintain computers. The government could further announce that any investment made in computers would be eligible for 10 per cent depreciation in two years. In China, non-resident Chinese are donating computers to schools, with 10 per cent of olders computers being kept for cannibalising and maintenance.Gujarat chief minister Keshubhai Patel said that although the state has started late to adaopt IT but has jumped into fast track to make past amends.