BENGALURU: Employees of IT parks around the city have been asking for increased security at their workplaces, on the lines of the security provided to campuses in Electronics City by the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) since the recent attack on security forces in Pulwama. With tensions running high between India and Pakistan, many employees working in city tech parks want central forces to guard them, or the local police to step up security.
In 2010, IT major Infosys became the first company in Electronics City to be accorded CISF cover. The cover was eventually extended to over 140 companies located inside the Electronics City complex on a paid basis. However, the city has many more tech clusters which currently have lax security protocols, according to employees.
“Anyone can enter the premises with weapons or explosives in a car. Tech parks are a soft target and the government needs to institute measures like security checks at these places,” said Pratik Ghosh,a senior analyst with a company located at the EmbassyTech Village.
Other employees that CE spoke to said the companies as well as the tech park managers must also look at tightening security. They said threats like possible terrorism were the Government’s responsibility to crack down upon. “The CISF has been deployed in Electronics City and they are quite visible, patrolling in their vehicles. The same can be made compulsory for all tech parks or at least security checks by the local police can be instituted to check who enters and exits these parks,” said another IT sector employee Sriram Krishnan.
According to the city police, instructions have been issued to provide extra security. “We have instructed our officers to provide extra security at IT parks. This is one of those occasions where such action is required,” said Abdul Ahad, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Whitefield. He however did not share details of how many personnel had been deployed on these tasks.
Additional Commissioner of Police (East), Seemanth Kumar Singh said that providing security for all companies that dot the city is an impossible task. “As of now, the Karnataka State Industrial Security Force is still in its early days and is not in the position to provide security to tech parks. Local police stations will provide security cover when required. In light of the current situation, considering all factors, there is no threat to IT parks,” he said. Singh said that there were enough forces in reserve available to be deployed when necessary.