PETITION CLOSED

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Oppose IT Sector Proposal for Women Employees
  1. Signatures
    216 out of 250
    Petitioning
    1. Commissioner of Labour (+ 1 other)
      Petitioning
      close
      • Commissioner of Labour (Sri M S Ravishankar)
      • Karnataka Labour Minister (Sri B N Bachegowda)
  2. Created By
    Kamayani Bali-Mahabal
    Mumbai, India
About this Petition Petition Letter Petition Updates

The new deadline approved  by the Karnataa Govt. to let women work till 10 pm in the IT sectorcan affect their safety and security. 

The Karnataka BPO/IT/ITeS Companies are all registered under the Karnataka Shops and Establishments Act, 1961.The Act clearly specifies that women may not be employed after 8pm. However, in 2002, the Karnataka Government amended the Act to allow women workers to work in the Information Technology related companies during night-shift PROVIDED that the companies take full responsibility for the transportation and security of their women workers

If the current deadline for women employees is extended to 10 pm, then the companies would no longer be responsible for their safety and transportation if they work in office till 10 pm. The biggest casualty in this would be those women whose timings end between 8pm and 10pm .

 

Every time the petition is signed, an e-mail with the petition letter goes out to several officials, who need to hear your voice loud and clear. So, please express your solidarity with  women of  Bangalore by signing the petition.

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Oppose IT Sector Proposal for Women Employees

Respected Sir

I just signed the following petition addressed to: Karnataka Labour Minister.

----------------
The Honorable Labour Minister,
Department of Labour,
Karnataka.


The Karnataka Shops and Establishments Act, 1961 was updated in 2002, to allow women employees to work in night shifts in IT/ITES companies PROVIDED the company takes responsibility of their security and transportation. As a result, all IT-BPO companies provide transportation to/from workplace to women employees who work in the US shifts (ie login after 8 pm) and those who work in UK shifts (ie logout around 9.00 - 9.30 pm). In spite of this, the gruesome rape and murder of 28-year old BPO employee Pratibha Srikanthamurthy by the cab driver Shivkumar that came to pick her from home for her night shift took place in December, 2005. Incidents such as this, have further emphasised the need for proper security measures for women employees who work late or in night shifts. Unfortunately, instead of improving the security measures to avoid such tragedies in the future, several major IT/ITES organizations have approached the Labour department requesting a change in the above Act to extend the time limit from 8 pm to 10 pm (As per the recent news article in 'The Hindu' http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-karnataka/article2474780.ece)


If the current deadline for women employees is extended to 10 pm, then the companies would no longer be responsible for their safety and transportation if they work in office till 10 pm. The biggest casualty in this would be those women whose timings end between 8pm and 10pm especially those who work in UK shifts whose usual shift ends around 9.30pm.

The Indian BPO/IT industry currently gets around 20-30% of its work and revenue from contracts from the UK. The employees who work on these projects will be affected through increased transportation costs and dangers to personal security.

Currently, due to the deadline of 11.30pm for commercial establishments in Bangalore, the streets become deserted by 11pm. This renders women susceptible to both petty crimes (like chain-snatching, robbery etc) and serious ones (like molestation, rape, murder, etc).

This makes it potentially dangerous for women to travel around this new timing of 10 pm and must therefore be given serious consideration by the Karnataka Govt and its Department of Labour.



Sincerely,

[Your name]

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