It was business unusual in pockets of Salt Lake?s Sector V on election day.

Sections of Bengal?s information technology (IT) hub decided to slow down on Thursday, with big names like IBM, Cognizant Technology and Skytech Solutions downing shutters for the day ? but not before announcing a full-working Saturday to make up for lost time.

With wounds of the forceful Saltlec shutdown by the Citu bandh last September yet to heal, principal secretary, IT, G.D. Gautama was quick to set the record straight: ?It is the company?s decision whether to stay open on the day of the elections or not. The government has not given any directive to any company on this count.?

But the 24x7 business process outsourcing (BPO) brigade was open for business as usual. With most of them dealing with overseas outbound as well as inbound processes, the call centres could not afford to go silent.

?It?s a normal working day for us and attendance was not a problem,? stressed Suresh Menon, chief operating officer, BNKe Solutions.

Mithu Mallick, manager, UK operations, for Xplore Tech Services, added that the BPO had made arrangements for the transportation of its employees on election day.