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Language, Power, and Software 291

working on this problem. But the fact remains that, as of early 1999,
none of these “solutions” has achieved any widespread acceptance.
There are more plans than achievements; the policies of the Indian
Government vis-à-vis localization remain complex and confused. De-
spite multiple proclamations on the part of both public and private
groups that they have achieved a solution to the localization problem,
either these solutions do not work or they are not widely adopted.
The result is that South Asia—with its vast population, its enor-
mous economic potential, its multiple ancient cultures and litera-
tures, and the world’s largest, rapidly growing middle-class—almost
completely lacks readily available, affordable, usable vernacular
software. To put it bluntly and perhaps to overstate the point, unless
an Indian reads, speaks, and writes good English, she cannot use a
computer, she cannot use e-mail, she cannot access the Web. Despite
the valiant efforts of many who have tried to change the situation,
English is necessary.

Why Is There No Local Language Software?

Given that South Asia possesses almost a quarter of the world’s
population, we need to ask why there is no effective and diffused lo-
calized software. An answer requires examining different levels of
the problem.
First is the question of why the efforts of software companies in
this area have been so meager or so ineffective. At the governmental
level, India has promoted two distinct groups concerned with local
language software, the National Centre for Software Technology
(NCST) in Mumbai, and the Centre for Development of Advanced
Computing (CDAC) in Poona. Each has followed a different path to-
ward localization, with CDAC the first to market. CDAC’s solutions
were initially based on hardware modifications (the so-called GIST
card), and its word-processing software was seen by some users as in-
adequate and antiquated. Furthermore, CDAC, although a govern-
ment agency, initially sold its local-language software, warts and all,
for prices that drove away potential purchasers of lesser means.
NSCT, which currently works with Microsoft on developing Indian
language fonts, has developed alternative means of coding Indian
languages, which many viewed as more likely to prevail than those
promoted by CDAC. In Delhi, many agencies were directly or indi-
rectly involved with setting policies that affect Indian language com-
puting, including a special Government of India agency to promote
the use of Indian languages, the Department of Telecommunications,