THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Efforts are on to inoculate 1.25 lakh employees and their 2.5 lakh family members in the state as soon as possible. It is especially crucial for small and medium enterprises as they can’t afford work from home expenses and pay rent for spaces in IT parks. Availability of vaccines is a challenge, though
At a time when the state is struggling with the mammoth task of vaccinating the population, IT companies have also stepped up efforts to inoculate employees and their families on a war footing. As many as 1.25 lakh IT employees and their around 2.5 lakh family members will benefit from the vaccination drive.
Currently, 916 companies are based at IT parks in the state. Kerala has around 3,000 IT companies, including 1,900 startups. Group of Technology Companies (GTech) -- the Industry body of IT and business process management (BPM) organisations in Kerala -- has already initiated efforts and are in the process of tying up with top-tier healthcare institutions to roll out the mass vaccination programme.
GTech secretary Binu Jacob told TNIE that vaccination is crucial for small and medium IT companies that are struggling to survive the pandemic. “Our aim is to complete the vaccination within a month but the availability of vaccines is still an issue. We are in talks with premium healthcare institutions in Kochi, Kozhikode and Thiruvnanthapuram but everything depends on the availability of vaccines,” he said.
The Technopark Employees Cooperative Hospital has placed orders for procuring Covishield and Sputnik, which have more efficacy in staving off Covid-19. “We have placed an order for two lakh Covishield vaccine doses already. We will get 25,000 doses by June 11 or 12. We will immediately launch the drive. The companies will be paying the cost. Around 400 companies operate from Technopark, which have around 60,000 employees, and the drive is expected to cover around 1.8 lakh beneficiaries,” said Binu R, president of Technopark Employees Cooperative Hospital. He said they are making available vaccines at Rs 790 per head for IT companies.
“The park has been shut down for more than a year now and the companies are hoping to reopen once the vaccination drive is fully completed. We are getting requests from companies across the state,” said Binu R. In addition to Covishield, the authorities have also placed an order for 50,000 Sputnik V doses.
It is learnt that the state government is yet to give a rental waiver for many IT companies based at IT parks in the state. Around 80 per cent of the IT companies in the state are small or medium enterprises. “The contribution of the IT industry to Kerala’s GDP is very significant and the industry has an annual turnover of close to `25,000 crore. Now, the small and medium companies are struggling as they have to meet the work from home expenses of the employees and pay the rent of the office space,” said Binu Jacob. He said small and medium companies operate with a smaller team and many of them have less than 100 employees. “They may lose their contracts with global companies as India is the hotspot of Covid spread at present.”
GTech had presented a memorandum to the state government seeking a waiver of rental for companies operating from IT parks. However, the newly elected government is yet to respond to the request. The state government had earlier granted a rental waiver for non-IT companies operating from the IT parks following the lockdown.
VACCINATION KEY FOR SMALL AND MEDIUM FIRMS
According to IT experts, vaccination is crucial for many small and medium IT companies as the work from home option is becoming impractical for them with each passing day. “The companies are obliged to pay the rent and GTech has requested the government to waive six months’ rent. Many companies are struggling to cover the rental which is an extra expense for them. Some of the small companies have only around 50 employees and they are very keen to reopen,” said an IT expert on condition of anonymity.
“Only 20 per cent of the companies are huge while the rest are small and medium. Large companies are trying to vaccinate their employees independently,” the expert added. UST, one of the IT giants, has already begun a vaccination drive for their employees and family members. The company is planning to vaccinate around 15,000-plus employees and family members across India. An official of UST said that a section of their employees want to work from the office. “The reaction is mixed and we might reopen depending on the situation. It’s too early to comment on reopening,” said an official of UST. UST has around 8,000 employees at Technopark.