Click to play videoThe rape and brutal murder of 22-year-old BPO employee Jyoti Choudhry has sparked a furore all across the country with anxious parents and angry employees revealing the gaping loopholes in the security systems of most BPOs in the country.
26-year-old Ashwini Mohite who works for a call centre in Pune says that parents are naturally worried and matters are not helped with recent cases like Jyoti Choudhry's.
Saudamini, a parent who lives in Bhopal concurs.
"My daughter is fresh out of college and wants to work with a BPO in Delhi. Though they are promising security, how can I, as a parent, really be sure that my daughter will actually be safe?" she asks. Her query is certainly justified for most girls move from smaller towns to cities to work in these BPOs. They usually have no family in the cities and their room-mates work in BPOs, too.
Some parents, such as Bangalore-based S P Naik, even feel that call centres are unhealthy for Indian society. "Call centres are encouraging the late-night culture in India," he asserts.
Unfortunately, it appears as though security for employees, particularly women employees is not a given for most BPOs, and measures are installed only when a need arises.
Ashwini Mohite agrees, saying, "Earlier, security was not there at the company, at the time I joined in 2004. We did not have guards. But there was an incident which took place after that. Then, our company used to provide guards."
Chetna Moorthy, whose sister Pratibha had been brutally raped and murdered by her call centre cab-driver in Bangalore two years ago is livid at the nonchalance of the authorities.
"I think it is really a shame for the entire nation, for the so-called people who are responsible for law and order in this country, and the IT and BPO companies which have been given the credit for being responsible for the economic growth of this country, that such an incident has been repeated within the span of two years. And I would really like to ask the people concerned - the responsible people who are at the helm of affairs - as to what exactly have they done over these two years to improve security measures? I do not see anything that has happened here," she fumes.
Pratibha's uncle S srinivas is equally angry. "I feel it is utterly disgusting of the country, the company and also the travel agencies, how unmindful they are about these kind of murder and rape cases."
Though some companies have promised security, these promises are seldom carried out. A recent CNN-IBN research has demonstrated that in a particular Noida-based call centre, out of 50-odd cabs that moved at night, only a handful had a guard accompanying the driver.
That, however, can proved to be another, unlooked-for problem.
""We are talking about security guards in the cabs. What if the guard and the driver get together?" demanded Richa, a young call centre executive.
She also feels that the concerned authorities are not doing enough, right from the governments to the companies themselves.
"I keep on listening to government informing us that they will be giving directives to the companies. Are they actually giving directives to the companies?" She demanded, adding, "Are they ensuring that if they are picking up women in the night shift, they send a guard along with her in the cab? Is the verification actually taking place in companies?"
Pune-based Rachit Sharma disgustedly adds, "Security measures adopted by the companies are just for name's sake." His suggestion is that girls have to go ahead and make their own arrangements. "Nobody else can help them," he concludes, fatalistically.
Richa's question is certainly justified, following revelations that the chief accused in Jyoti Chaudhry's murder, Purushottam Borate had a criminal record. During interrogation Borate confessed that he had a history of three previous cases of theft, though Pune police say that he was not booked for either. Some sources have even suggested that Borate may have also been involved in the rape of a minor.
Clearly, at the companies' levels, background checks of drivers can be introduced and enforced.
Subramaniyam from Chennai also feels that cab drivers should be regular employees of the company.
"They should preferably be ex-servicemen and ladies. Males should not be employed. Drivers should not have any criminal records," he states.
But now, in the wake of the Jyoti Chaudhry incident, authorities have suddenly woken up and trying to bring forth some sort of safeguards.
Dr P S Pasricha says, "A database is being made of all BPOs and companies have been asked to examine the credentials of their drivers,"
Sunil Duggal, who heads a security agency and the author of Women - 24 - Secure, a handy ready-reckoner for women, also offered some suggestions to companies, given that for some of them, the logistical expenses would amount to more than they can afford.
In response to Richa's point of the guard and driver being in cahoots, Duggal said that a continuous rotation policy would prevent that from happening. He added that both the guard and the driver would need to be verified, by both the police and the hiring company.
Duggal also feels that drivers should certainly be regular employees of the BPO companies.
"That would give the bpo companies direct control over the personnel who are, in fact, dropping the female employees home. The cabs can be outsourced, the vehicles can be outsourced, but the drivers can be directly verified employees of the call centre company," he said.
GPS tracking would be one of the more fool-proof ways to track cabs.
"GPS tracking can definitely be installed in metros," said Duggal. "It's a practical solution in metros because most of them are already mapped."
But there are other technological solutions available as well, and at a lesser cost to companies. Duggal suggests using the GSM network, which would be a one-time technological investment.
"There are ways in which the existing GSM network can work," said Duggal. "If the employee enters the cab a message goes to the control room 'employee so-and-so has entered the cab', and as the employee exits the cab, through a proximity card, the message will go to the control room that the employee has exited the cab. A security guard - on rotation - should be sent to drop women home and no woman should be dropped last, alone," he stated.
For call centre employees, Duggal offered some tips, which include simple ones such as finding out the cab's route beforehand and having an emergency number on the mobile phone's speed-dial. Pepper spray is also an absolute must.
Duggal added, "Women's safety today will be handled in a three-pronged approach: The state - in which the police is concerned, the employers who have to take utmost care in ensuring that safety of their female employees is taken care of, and women themselves who have to learn to become their own bodyguards. And this can happen through knowledge of self-defence, awareness, know your surroundings, know the situation, and learn how to protect yourself."
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