The Delhi rape incident has startled the IT industry here, which will have to once again focus on the safety while travelling in cabs or private transport.
Though the Cyberabad traffic police have an initiative under which all the cab drivers moving frequently in the IT corridor have to register with them and paste a unique ID sticker on their cars, there is no mention of background checks of the drivers.
Scores of cab drivers plying in and around the ‘highly secured’ IT corridor have never undergone a background check, either by the companies or by the law enforcers. Till date, there is no mechanism in place to check for the antecedents of the cab drivers ferrying the employees to their work places and their homes.
“We have the information of about 90 per cent of the drivers operating in and around Cyberabad and stickers have also been given to them for easy identification. But background checking of each and every driver is not be possible,” said Avinash Mohanty, Traffic DCP, Cyberabad.
In the past, the IT companies had requested the police department to undertake background checks of the cab drivers and even volunteered to pay for the same. However, citing the humungous manpower and time required for the task, the offer was turned down, say IT firms representatives.
With techies forming a significant customer base for the latest mobile apps for cab services, the risk has only increased manifold for women employees. Many new cab companies providing services leveraging technology, operate in the Cyberabad region even without these mandatory registrations, it is said.
“We will ask our IT & ITES firms to take responsibility for a woman employee after 8 p.m. if office transport is provided. Some are not following and we will ask them to mandatorily enforce it,” said Mamata Vegunta, vice-chairperson, Society for Cyberabad Security Council Women Forum. The IT industry is planning to meet the higher police officials soon on steps to enhance the security of women employees.
