‘India created raw talent to serve others,’ says Sam Pitroda; BJP say Congress ‘bashing Bharat’

Indian Overseas Congress chief Sam Pitroda has sparked a new controversy by saying in an interview that India has created “raw” talent to serve others. He said India did not build any global-scale technology products of its own, and hence the talent serves others. Commenting about India’s technology ecosystem, Pitroda said it is “a shame that a country with 1.5 billion people does not have its own operating system.”

The comments drew sharp criticism from the BJP, which accused him of “bashing Bharat.”

In an interview with a YouTube channel, Sam Pitroda said India has created a large base of “raw” young talent but failed to leverage it for domestic innovation.

“We created a lot of young talent, but it is raw. It ultimately helped multinationals worldwide in their programming, banking, legal systems, industry, manufacturing, and logistics,” he said.

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‘India did not build global-scale technology products of its own’

He further said that India had not built global-scale technology products of its own, and hence its talent served others.

“Neither have we created our own social media platform, nor have we started a big company like Microsoft. We have not even developed our own operating system. It is a shame that a country with 1.5 billion people does not have its own operating system. We could not even build an operating system for mobile phones. We have really used our talent to serve others,” Pitroda said.

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‘Uncle Sam mocks Bharat with lies,’ says Poonawalla. counters remarks

The BJP was quick to react, and its spokesperson, Shehzad Poonawalla, launched a scathing attack on Sam Pitroda, saying that the chief advisor of ‘Lashkar e Congress’ once again “mocked Bharat with lies.”

“So after the TOPLESS act by Congress now comes chief advisor of ‘Lashkar E Congress’ — Sam Pitroda. Once again on agenda of bashing Bharat. Uncle Sam mocks Bharat with lies. Says shame on India they haven’t developed even OS for mobiles,” Poonawalla said in a post on X.

He countered Pitroda’s remarks by listing Indian-developed operating systems such as BOSS Linux, Maya OS, PrimeOS, BharOS, Indus OS and NxtQuantum OS, asserting that Congress’ “only mission is to run down Bharat with lies.”

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He also cited India’s digital payments system UPI, vaccine development under the Atmanirbhar initiative, and recent economic growth figures to defend the government’s record.

“Congress hates India…” he concluded.

Sam Pitroda not new to controversies

Sam Pitroda is not new to controversies and has made headlines for his statements several times.

Last year, he urged the Centre to prioritise dialogue with neighbouring countries and said that India’s foreign policy should begin by strengthening ties in the region, including with Pakistan.

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“Our foreign policy, according to me, must first focus on our neighbourhood. Can we really substantially improve relationships with our neighbours?… I’ve been to Pakistan, and I must tell you, I felt at home. I’ve been to Bangladesh, I’ve been to Nepal, and I feel at home. I don’t feel like I’m in a foreign country,” he said.