THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The murder of an IT professional in Pune and that too inside her office, allegedly by the company’s own security guard, has raised questions about the safety of women in the workplace.
Women employees of Technopark here, who have to work odd hours during weekends, have demanded more security from their employers. There are also demands from employees that companies should conduct proper background check of security personnel before deploying them on duty.
“The Pune incident is an eye opener. Most of us have to work during weekends especially when our project deadline nears. There are instances where a woman employee has to work all alone in the entire building, with a security guard on duty. This situation should change,” said Sherin Verghese, an employee with an IT firm in Technopark.
According to sources, some IT firms make employees work in small teams or even alone during weekends with the aim of earning an extra buck. “Employees are made to work for 10 to 20 weekend days in a year so that the companies here can claim extra amount from the firm that has given them the contract,” said an employee on the condition of anonymity.
“Except a few leading companies, the other firms do not ensure proper background check of the security guards or make sure that they are recruited from well-known security firms. Most of the guards keep changing every two weeks. There is also lack of enough women security personnel in most of the buildings,” said Rajiv Krishnan, secretary of Prathidhwani, a socio-cultural organisation of Technopark employees.