Security beefed up for call centre staff
The gruesome rape and murder of a Bangalore call centre employee has spurred police in Delhi and the call-centre hubs of Gurgaon and Noida to chalk out strategies for beefing security for the thousands of women working night shifts in the satellite towns.
With the background of 500 rape cases in Delhi this year, the police of Delhi, Gurgaon and Noida have decided to take the identity proof of call centre drivers, including their photographs and finger prints, in a move to instil a sense of confidence in the women.
"There is certainly a sense of fear among the women employees and our primary aim now is to ensure absolute safety of these workers. From Monday we are starting a special security drive in Gurgaon for call centre vehicles," said Hanif Quereshi, senior superintendent of police (SSP), Gurgaon.
"We are also holding a meeting with the call centre authorities to strategise about the security. We will take the identity proof of all the drivers, cab owners and even travel agents who are providing cabs to these multinationals," Quereshi said.
"Besides, photographs of cab drivers and their finger prints would be collected with immediate effect for our records and it will certainly help both the BPO industry and the city police," the SSP added.
He said a couple of call centres have begun the identification process on their own earlier.
Bangalore call centre employee, Pratibha Srikant, 24, was on Wednesday night raped and brutally murdered by a cab driver who picked her up at around 2.30 am for her early morning shift.
Women constitute around 60 per cent of the 20,000 people employed in different call centres of Delhi, Gurgaon and Noida. With a large number of call centres located in Delhi, especially in the south, Delhi Police is keen on increasing the security.
"It's a concern for any police department where business process outsourcing is happening in a big way. Sometimes next week all our top officials will sit together to discus the issue and provide a clear directive on security measures," said Praveer Ranjan, deputy commissioner of police, south Delhi.
In Noida, the police are equally concerned. S Yadav, superintendent of police, Gautam Budh Nagar, Noida, said that though the security of call centre employees is a private matter, the police was "not satisfied with the security arrangement of these organisations".
"As a responsible institution, we are holding a special meeting with all those firms. First we will take the feedback from them and depending on that we will give our directives," he said.
"We hope every precautionary measure would be put into place by the end of next week."
"The first thing that we are going to do is advise them to keep a guard in the cab and never allow drivers to pick or drop a single woman worker. The women employee should not be picked first or dropped last," he said.
Some call centres in the region have decided to increase the security for women workers.
"We are concerned about the safety of our employees and have directed the transport and facility department to make sure that no woman employee is picked first or dropped last. We are ready to cooperate with the police and do what ever is necessary," said Gaurav Jain, manager facilities of IBM Daksh, a leading BPO network of the country.
However, women workers are scared and want their organisations to tighten the security.
"Though there is a provision for sending a guard in the cab, sometimes one finds the guard missing. More importantly, the call centres should ensure that there is not a regular change of driver," said a woman employee of GE.
"Every day you find a new driver and cab coming to pick you up and it's very natural to be apprehensive while with a stranger," she said.
