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Features

Of a Murder, Employer, and Responsibilities

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DQI Bureau
New Update


While having processes to manage in-bound and out-bound calls for data and
information security of customers, we have neglected crucial processes that
could have saved a life

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Should
HP GlobalSoft be held responsible for the murder of Pratibha? Did it abet,
albeit indirectly, the crime by leaving enough room for a psychopath to claim an
unsuspecting life? It's a question that begs an answer from HP GlobalSoft, the
legal bodies and, of course, colleagues and family of Pratibha.

It
would appear that the Karnataka Police is contemplating taking such an action,
according to sources. Clearly, with emotions running high, one would be most
tempted to agree with the Karnataka Police. Could this have been averted at all?

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In
the reconstruction of events-from the time Pratibha was picked up from her
home, there appears to be several points, which now stand out, where HP
GlobalSoft could have reacted and thus averted this tragedy.

For
instance, why didn't the person who was informed by Jagdeesh, the regular
driver, that another driver had picked Pratibha, check on her getting delayed,
or why she hadn't turned up at all despite leaving home at 2 am?

That
HP GlobalSoft responded to her husband's query with “she has not reported
into work”, points out that it completely lacks a system of tracking its
employees while on road.

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This
raises another question. What is the actual process followed by BPO companies to
ensure the safety of a person from the time he/she leaves the premises (home or
office) and reaches his/her destination? This, apparently, is the root cause
behind the Karnataka Police's ire -the state's Shops and Establishment
Act, amended in 2002 after the IT Act came into being that year, permitted IT,
ITeS and BPO firms to put women on night shifts with a clear provision that
makes companies responsible for the safety and security of its women employees,
especially with respect to their transportation.

The
10-point Agenda

  1. No woman employee should be picked up first or
    dropped last when on night duty by company's vehicles;

  2. In case male employees are not commuting with them
    in the same vehicle or on the same route, the company's security
    guards should escort women employees to and fro office from their
    places of stay;

  3. Vehicles ferrying women employees should be equipped
    with GPS (global positioning system) to ensure the company as well
    as the transport service operator can keep a track of their movement
    and location;

  4. Companies should submit a database of their taxi
    service operators and drivers on their duty to the local police
    station. The database should contain details of contact numbers,
    addresses and background checks of operators and drivers;

  5. Companies will have to ensure their transport
    operators employ or engage drivers only after their police
    verification certifies their background and conduct;

  6. Companies should make route charts and schedules of
    pick-up drivers every monday and ensure they are not changed without
    the clearance of the in-charge concerned;

  7. Drivers or cabs ferrying women employees should not
    be changed frequently. If a driver is not deployed on a specific
    route, he should not have access to the phone or mobile numbers or
    address of women employees;

  8. Vehicles hired by IT firms for ferrying their
    employees should not have tinted or dark glasses;

  9. Companies should check transport vehicles to ensure
    no harmful weapons are carried. Similarly, drivers should be frisked
    to check they are not carrying weapons, and

  10. Drivers should not be put on duty for 14-16 hours as
    has been the practice.

Clearly,
this clause has been violated. The law does not leave room for any confusion or
doubt regarding the nature of security. So there is no case for Som Mittal,
managing director of HP Global Soft, to state, “The element of risk is always
there.” While there may not be a foolproof way to guard against a 'suicide
bomber', surely it becomes the responsibility of the company to ensure that
all necessary steps are taken to 'minimise' the risk, given that the
nighttime poses the ideal situation for perpetuating crime.

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Then
there is the question of Shivkumar calling Pratibha and informing that he was
the substitute driver. That Pratibha left with him indicates that this is a
regular practice. That in itself leaves room for psychopaths work out their
nefarious designs. All they have to do is call and inform that they are the
substitutes. Is it not the responsibility of the BPO companies to call and
inform in case of any changes?

Now,
if Shivkumar never worked for SRS Travels, as claimed by SRS, how did he get
hold of Pratibha's number? Who gave out the number, and what security measures
followed up to ensure that employee related information was kept confidential?

Clearly,
what all this boils down to is a simple truth: while having processes to manage
in-bound and out-bound calls for data and information security of customers, we
have neglected processes such as these, which are just as crucial. Why? Is it
because they are peripheral activities and do not add value besides cost to the
operations?

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The
solution or the answer does not lie in witch hunting. Yet, in the name of
“knowledge economy” we should be careful about not exploiting our youth. If
this is indeed an industry that has long-term economic value for the country,
then the health and safety of  BPO
employees should also be seen thus. However, if this is just a short-term boom,
only leveraging on labour arbitrage, then it is a bigger sin perpetrated by
global companies in cahoot with Indian companies wanting to rake in a quick
buck.

-Latha
Chandradeep/CyberMedia News  

mail@dqindia.comv

 

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