House panel favours day shift for women in IT/BT firms

A legislature committee has recommended that IT and BT companies allow women employees to work in day shifts as much as possible in the interest of their safety.

In its report tabled in the Assembly on Monday, the standing committee on women and child welfare said male employees should be made to work night shift, instead of women.
The 22-member panel, headed by Congress MLA N A Haris, has made the recommendation after inspecting Infosys and Biocon campuses in Bengaluru recently.

The committee had inspected these companies in November last year to look into the safety aspects of women employees and to find out whether they are implementing recommendations of the Sarojini Mahishi report.

Besides, the committee recommended that the government introduce pink police patrol system on the lines of Kerala government to prevent sexual assault on women. The panel also wants the government to adopt a mobile application developed by the Kerala government for this purpose.

The committee has observed that those involved in cases of assault against women were not arrested in many cases. The conviction rate is also very low. The government should amend the legislation concerned and ensure that stringent punishment is given to those involved in sexual assault against women, the panel suggested.

Complaint cells pertaining to women, children and senior citizens have three different toll-free numbers. Not many people are aware about these numbers. Hence, steps should be taken to introduce a single, three—digit number for the convenience of these people.

The committee recommended that the Labour and the Women and Child Development departments have to frequently conduct inspection of garment factories and ensure that steps are taken to provide security to the women employees. Women garment factory workers should be educated about various government schemes and programmes being implemented for their benefit, the panel said.