A joint house committee of the State Legislature has recommended that women employees of information technology and bio-technology companies (IT/BT) in Bengaluru and other cities should not be put on night shifts, to the extent possible, in the interest of their safety.
The committee, headed by N.A. Harris, Congress MLA, which tabled a report in the Legislative Assembly, has recommended hiring men for night shifts.
As many as 21 members of the committee visited Infosys and Biocon and inspected the working condition of women employees on November 9, 2016. The committee said that companies have to make efforts to deploy women employees for morning or afternoon shifts.
Reacting to this, the IT industry body Nasscom on Monday said the report amounts to denying women an opportunity to work. It said steps to ensure safety and security of women employees had been taken.
Further, it said the government has to ensure safety and security of women in cities where the IT companies operate. “In the IT sector, night shift is mainly based on projects. However, in the BPO sector, predominantly the working hours are at night. If we want to reduce women workforce then it would technically mean denying women job opportunities,” said Sangeeta Gupta, senior vice-president, Nasscom.
Nasscom also said that if the industry want to create more job opportunities for women in the BPO sector then night shifts are unavoidable. “Every stakeholder too must do their bit to ensure safety,” she added.
