IT only active area in immobile Bengal

Kolkata, Dec 14: As a total strike was observed in West Bengal, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee's pet IT sector -- through which he hopes to get investment in the state - stood apart.

Even though CITU did not exempt the sector from the purview of the strike, Mr Bhattacharjee had assured that the Government would make all arrangements to keep work bustling in the industry - and it happened so, barring a few cases.

'' The functioning in IT industry is more than normal, '' he said.

The Chief Minister's statement, however, contradicted the claim of Transport Minister Subhash Chakraborty, who said many employees in the sector had joined the strike.

While IT Minister Debesh Das supported Mr Bhattacharjee, saying normal work had been reported from the city's Salt Lake sector five, CITU state president Shyamal Chakraborty also admitted that it was ''apparently normal''.

According to industry sources, about 95 per cent attendance was reported from Wipro, HSBC and many other companies as authorities made prior arrangements for overnight stay of their employees. Some companies sent pick-up vehicles for their employees to come.

Unwilling to ''take any risk'', IBM directed its staff members not to come and compensate for the loss of mandays by working on their off days.

A massive police arrangement was made in and around sector five to preempt any untoward incident or obstruction to employees.

CITU supporters tried to stop IT vehicles in a few stray incidents, but the police promptly intervened to escort employees to their work places.

Denying that they had prevented anybody from joining duty, West Bengal IT Services Association General Secretary Somnath Bhattacharya told UNI that the strike had evoked a mixed response in the industry.

'' Though IT was not exempted from the strike, we did not ask anyone in the IT sector not to come, nor did we stop any vehicle.

Those willing to work reported for duty while many employees did not come, '' he said.

Ruling out any possible impact of the strike on the state's IT sector, the Chief Minister had assured taking measures against picketing by outsiders in front of offices and all possible measures to ensure normal functioning.

The Chief Minister's assurance came shortly after the CITU announced to observe the 24-hour strike in the state's IT sector along with other areas as part of the nationwide prrogramme of the National Platform of Mass Organisations (NPMO).

The CITU state president said IT had not been exempted from the purview of the proposed strike since it was not in the list of essential services.

He said it was only a utility service area and there was no question of leaving it out of the strike.

However, the Chief Minister's statement indicated that the Left Front Government managed to make CITU agree on the need for maintaining normal services in the IT sector for the sake of an investor-friendly image that the state had earned in recent times.

The CITU announcement came at a time when the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee-led Left Front Government was going whole hog for wooing investment in the state.

The government had made all arrangements for security and transport to keep alive the state's flourishing IT hub in Salt Lake sector five during the Opposition-sponsored Bangla bandhs on October 9, December 1 and 5. Considered to have a very high growth potential in the state, IT, the 24-hour service providing industry, is being treated as a utility service under a policy of the state government, which is reviewed after every six months.

Speculations made rounds whether the Government would take similar measures to ensure normal functioning in the IT sector on December 14, especially after the Left parties propped up West Bengal Information Technology Employees Association (WBTES) on November 14.

The move left tizzy the IT companies, including TCS, Cognizant Technologies, Wipro, Siemens and IBM prompting them to hold a meeting among themselves to decide the course of action if the strike was thrust on the sector.

The Chief Minister, however, had asserted that the Government would initiate similar measures on December 14, the day when CITU, the powerful frontal wing of the CPI(M), would take to the street to make the proposed strike a success with support from all Left parties.

With team Buddha wooing investments, the IT industry called the strike an unwelcome move, which would dampen the state's image.

NASSCOM President Kiran Karnik said it would not not send a good signal to the outside clients sitting in the UK or the US who work 24x7.

Uuwilling to officially accord any special status on the sector, CITU said not all areas of IT sector had the need to work for 24 hours. ''It is only the BPOs and call centres that work round-the-clock and the notion that that the industry is of the nature of essential services is wrong,'' the CITU state President said.

UNI

Related Stories