Mohandas Pai's 'nothing in Bengaluru' tweet prompts Sridhar Vembu to reply on 'North-South politics'

Former Infosys CFO TV Mohandas Pai expressed his concerns over the perceived neglect of Bengaluru, often hailed as the technology capital of India, in the government's technological initiatives in a social media post that did not go down well with Zoho CEO Sridhar Vembu, a key decision maker in one initiative.

In a series of pointed tweets directed at Union Ministers Dharmendra Pradhan and Ashwini Vaishnaw, Pai questioned the central government's commitment to the south India, calling the NDA’s treatment to them “step motherly" as he shared a report on the new centres of AI excellence in India.

The institutes include IIT-Kanpur (sustainable cities), IIT - Ropar (agriculture) and healthcare - jointly at IIT-Delhi and AIIMS, Delhi.

"Nothing in Bengaluru? Why are you and Ashwini Vaishnaw ignoring the South in IT, ignoring Bengaluru? Are we not part of Bharat too?" Pai wrote, adding that Bengaluru residents are apparently "very angry and upset" for "repeatedly ignoring" them in the South.

He called for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene, lamenting the lack of investment and attention directed towards the tech hub.

"For voting NDA our state govt too is ignoring us! Not investing enough in Bengaluru!" he concluded his tweet.

This criticism comes in light of recent discussions surrounding the establishment of three AI Centres of Excellence in India. The decision-making process has faced scrutiny, with allegations of bias favouring institutions in the North over those in the South.

In a counter-response, Zoho CEO Sridhar Vembu defended the integrity of the selection process for these AI centres. As the co-chair of the top committee responsible for the decision, Vembu stressed on the diverse representation from the South within the committee and the thorough evaluation of project proposals submitted by various institutions.

I want to respond to this because I was the Co-chair of the apex committee that decided the 3 AI Centres of Excellence.
The committee itself had plenty of us from the South (probably the majority). Most of us came from the private sector and the Government did not tell us who we https://t.co/yaqHdQUtie Sridhar Vembu (@svembu) October 17, 2024

"The responsibility for this decision on the AI Centres of Excellence should be with us in the committee and personally with me as Co-chair. I beg people to not inject North-South politics into this," Vembu stated. He highlighted that the selection process was not influenced by governmental directives, allowing for a fair assessment based on the quality of proposals.

Vembu also noted that the selected consortiums include prominent southern institutions, mentioning the AI CoE on Health, which is led by a consortium that includes IISc Bengaluru and IIT Chennai. "All presented very strong proposals, but the ones we selected stood out in the end," he said adding it was a unanimous decision.

A back-and-forth followed between the two industry leaders on the matter on X, drawing the attention of commenters. Pai responded to Vembu asking him to release the scoring and ranking criteria to the public for transparency.

Can you release your scoring and comments to the public Pl? Why this secrecy? It is surprising that instititions like @iitmadras and @iiscbangalore who stand out for the work in this area did not come on top. This is about Hi tech, futuristic, institutional capacity, eco system https://t.co/yL3vxyNPeS
Mohandas Pai (@TVMohandasPai) October 17, 2024

“It is surprising that institutions like IIT Madras and IISc Bangalore who stand out for the work in this area did not come on top. This is about Hi tech, futuristic, institutional capacity, eco system around institutions which matter for the output,” Pai wrote.

Vembu responded and provided details, urging to keep North-South politics out of the matter.

“IISc and IIT-M are part of the AIIMS-led consortium for AI CoE on Health. The committee had distinguished people from both Bengaluru and Chennai. I went to IIT-M myself. Again I beg people to avoid the North-South arguments in this please,” he wrote.

Pl release your ranking criteria and scoring to ensure transparency. For sustainable cities who are the members of the consortium? https://t.co/7L5YVAXZ0dMohandas Pai (@TVMohandasPai) October 17, 2024

Pai, in his latest tweet on the matter, asked Vembu about the members of the consortium from sustainable cities and asked for the grading system to be made public.

Vembu, in his latest tweet, quote tweeted a colleague who endorsed the former's views.

"Dr Manish Gupta, who works in Google DeepMind from Bengaluru, is a fellow member of the Apex Committee on AI CoE. He is originally from the North, now living and working in Bengaluru. I once again beg people to avoid injecting North-South politics in this," Vembu wrote.