HYDERABAD: Women are getting stressed out juggling family and work duties. The pressure of ‘having it all’ is leading to lots of stress and many times they have no one to share their problems with.
In order to address this issue and help female software professionals deal with personal and work-related issues, the Society for Cyberabad Security Council (SCSC) is coming up with a new initiative called Margadarshak.
Says Bharini Kumar Aroll, secretary of SCSC: “The Margadarshak programme is aimed at developing resources within the company. We want to provide an informal system where a female employee can get some support when she is in distress. Margadarshak will guide the employee and encourage her to solve her problems on her own. The main idea is to prevent them from taking any extreme step or quitting job.”
As part of the initiative, a senior female employee each from the IT companies that have tied up with SCSC, will be trained professionally to help their female colleagues deal with family issues and work-related problems. The initiative is expected to begin by the last week of November.
The companies were asked to nominate a senior woman employee for this project. The trained seniors will be certified as Margadarshaks. They will act as a bridge for women employees to reach out to external support and would also guide them in taking right decisions,” Aroll says.
The scope of the Margadarshak programme extends beyond the Internal Complaints Committee mandate of organisations. Margdarshaks will be equipped to discuss domestic issues that women employees may be facing, provide initial counselling and guidance on seeking legal and police help.
B.Haritha, a software employee, says: “This is a very good initiative and will be beneficial to all female employees, especially the new recruits and those hailing from other cities. Having an informal platform where we can share any of our problems would really help.”
Another employee, seeking anonymity, says: “Sharing all the problems with a senior official would be a bit uncomfortable. It would have been an added advantage if a Margadarshak is recruited separately for that particular post.”
K Rupendra, an employee of Ray Business Technologies said, wants the initiative extended for men too. “It will not be a bad idea if this initiative is extended to men too. Even men have many work-related problems and it would be of great help if we can share them with someone who can direct us in the right direction,” he says.