Bengaluru: The IT city still shudders when it recalls the horrific December night of 2005 — the night 24-year-old, Pratibha, a BPO executive of Hewlett Packard GlobalSoft, was brutally raped and murdered. The shocking act, committed 10 years ago, jolted the IT sector employees, especially women, and brought a certain amount of focus on the security of young women who worked on night shifts and commuted to and from work at odd hours.
Sadly, the more recent incident of a BPO employee gangraped in a moving van throws light on the vulnerability of women to such crimes even now. The police have recommended that the Labour Department initiate action against the BPO for not providing transportation to the woman employee who was raped on Saturday night while returning from work.
Said city police commissioner N.S. Megharikh: “It’s not the job of the police to issue safety guidelines and keep requesting the corporates and their transport sections to implement safety norms. The government departments will have to take the onus of strictly enforcing such norms and guidelines.” He added that in this case, the Transport Department will have to curb illegal ferrying of commuters and regularise the public transport system. He felt all vehicles that transport the public should be held accountable for safe travelling of passengers.
Sadly, the young BPO employee was the victim of a disorganised system, including a labour and transport department which has been given the authority to ensure safety of women employees in the IT sector.
Speaking to Deccan Chronicle about the role of the labour department in this case, D.S. Vishwanath, Commissioner, Labour Department says, “Safety and security is the domain of the police. And our establishment is about inspection and monitoring, easing norms for the employees and ensuring fair wages. Security is not within our purview.”
“I have sent the assistant labour commissioner to find out the details as he is also the local jurisdiction officer. After he submits his reports and findings we will decide our next step. We need to find out whether the BPO should be held responsible for this incident and whether they contravened provisions that have been laid under the Karnataka Shops and Commercial Establishments Act, 1962,” added the labour commissioner.
The transport department had another point of view. Transport Commissioner Ramegowda expressed this forthrightly. “Anything that comes under the Motor Vehicle Act, we will take care of. We have always been taking utmost care of our women commuters. There is a nodal officer appointed to handle all queries related to women commuters.”
He went on, “We have sent out instructions to taxi operators to have driver details and ply with inbuilt GPS. BMTC too is working with GPS in place. In a routine exercise we have been booking and seizing vehicles for violations of these instructions.”
Post the Nirbhaya case the commissioner adds that they have asked all cab operators and bus operators including BMTC to “check the verified antecedents of the drivers”.
Speaking about the repeat of the 2005 case and lessons learnt from the past, Bishwanath adds, “Only after that case, were specific exemptions made, but it is not easy to ensure the perfect functioning of the Acts. It is very elaborate and many heads are responsible for ensuring women’s safety.”
Women safety ignored by both companies, law enforcers
Women safety has always been sidelined across the city either by the companies or by law enforcers. It continues to be a distant dream for the women to walk safely in the city’s streets. Women in the city feel it is high time government takes note of its systems, infrastructure and public transport that have contributed in rise of rape cases against women.
Geetha Menon, a womens’ rights activist says, “We are all facing lack of facilities especially pertaining to protection on public transport. People are lucky to have cabs from their offices and there is at least somebody to hold responsible. When there is no public transport at all, whom do we hold responsible? Almost every woman in the city has been in a dilemma whether to take an auto or a cab in absence of public transports, at least once.”
While Pramila Nesargi, lawyer and women activist feels the reason for rise in such crimes is more psychological and says, “That is the mind set. Women are coming up in life economically, socially and becoming independent, getting strong. This has resulted in a complex among men. They feel unless women are controlled their authority will go.”
Safe commuting: An app for women
In a city which continues to battle pressing problems like heavy traffic and safety of women employees while traveling to and from work late nights and even during the day, an app will ensure safe employee transportation in India.
It’s the brainchild of Deepesh Agarwal, an IIT BHU alumnus, who was earlier working with Motorola in the United States where he was employed in the Transportation Department of the Federal Government. He wanted to come to India and help sort out the transport issues in his country. In 2009 he started MoveInSync, which dealt with Enterprise Transportation. MoveInSync addressed the crying need for safe employee transportation automation in India. What’s more, it addressed the issues faced by all stakeholders, of the logistics and management of transportation.
Involving employees, the transportation team, management and auditors, MoveInSync ensures all-round safety and also optimal utilization of resources, reducing unproductive worker behaviour and leakage of resources at the employers end.
How it works
With MoveInSync, all driver details are verified and references checked. Besides, the drivers and the vehicles are constantly monitored when on duty. If a driver is en route to drop an employee and if the cab is found stationary in a location for more than 4-5 minutes, the control center raises a red flag and investigates. The employees have been equipped with an app which can raise an alarm, the moment the employee feels threatened.
The app works like a beacon, sending out SOS messages with a location stamp. With this software, companies can also share driver details to create a safe ecosystem of drivers and fleets.
MoveInSync introduced the Proximity alert SMS for employees to be alert over when the cab will reach their pick-up zone, cab allocation and route generation based on past travel data using RSI (Route Satisfaction Index) and of course safety mechanisms for women employees.
