Nasscom, the IT and ITES apex body, on Tuesday urged its members to prepare for a complete lockdown and move all their assets immediately (where possible) to enable the employees to work from home.
In an advisory put out on its website, Nasscom said, "Only a handful of staff would be allowed to come to the office to support the mission-critical functions, operate data centers etc. Also, we would advise you to try and please plan the teams such that in areas like NCR, this mission-critical staff should not have to cross the state borders of UP, Delhi and Haryana."
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It added that the essential services notifications cannot be interpreted to be used for projects that had to be completed in the near term and contracts carrying penalties etc . "This is only for truly mission-critical work, and any misuse will put us at the risk of losing the trust with the government and might seriously impact the entire industry," Nasscom cautioned.
It also said that Nasscom was attempting to work with the local authorities on the process so that this handful of employees could come to office.
NASSCOM has been working in close contact with our members across different States for the necessary notifications that would help classify IT, ITeS, E-commerce be included in essential services, as per its statement.
"States have been very supportive and notifications have been issued in Karnataka, Telangana, UP, Haryana, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Orissa, West Bengal and adequate assurances have been given in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. We are in close touch with Delhi, Punjab and a few other states for getting similar notifications," added the industry lobby firm.
