Cold hearts by night

By not providing transport to women employees who work till late night, many IT firms in the city show scant regard for their safety and labour laws

Active campaigners of women safety during the day but violators by night – this could well describe IT companies in the city.

Despite growing apprehension among women employees regarding their safety, it has come to light that many IT companies do not provide proper transport to staffers who work till late night.

Surprise check

This is what a group of Labour Department officials found out during surprise checks conducted in the IT corridor of Madhapur and Gachibowli on Thursday night.

The officials learnt that many women employees were forced to employ private and public transport even after 9 p.m. since their company did not have a system in place to transport them home safely. Some companies arranged transport only till an important junction or MMTS station and not beyond that, the officials said. It was also noticed that some company cabs did not have a security guard, even though the last drop was that of a women employee.

“According to labour laws, the company is responsible for safely transporting all its women employees after 8.30 p.m.,” informed Deputy Labour Commissioner Naresh Kumar (Ranga Reddy district), who is also the nodal officer for the IT industry.

“We have made a list of 20 companies that are not taking enough precautions of their women employees. We will counsel them soon. If they repeat it we will issue show-cause notices and after that we will start taking stringent action,” he said.

Members of Cyberabad Security Council and its women forum also participated in the checks. According to the officials, these checks will be a regular affair from now on.