The ‘IT’ factor: The software hub in Sector V, Salt Lake. Photo: Sanat K. Sinha

Anamika is not her real name. And the fact that the 22-year-old call centre representative seeks to hide her identity tells its own story. She doesn’t disclose her name because she doesn’t want to lose her job ? even though she is “overworked and underpaid”. She has been working for two years in an office that has given her a cellphone and a car loan ? and myopia and spondylitis. She works after office hours every day and there is a constant buzzing sound in her ear. She would like to complain to someone, but doesn’t know whom to turn to.

Anamika may not be a representative of the entire IT industry, but at the CPI(M) headquarters in Calcutta’s Alimuddin Street, leaders are discussing her ? or other cases like hers. CPI(M) secretary Anil Biswas and state president of the party’s labour wing ? the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) ? Shyamol Chakraborty are sitting in two different rooms on either end of a long corridor on the first floor, voicing opinions that clash. West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has spoken out in public about safeguarding the information technology (IT) industry in the state from labour unions. Biswas supports his chief minister. Chakraborty, a former minister who’s regarded as a moderate, is a bit more vocal.

In September, a nationwide strike brought work to a standstill in many industries. Among those affected by the bandh called by CITU and other left trade unions in West Bengal were parts of the growing IT industry, still in its nascent stages in the state. Since then, the issue has been gathering momentum. Should the IT industry be exempt from strikes, as the chief minister seems to advocate? Or should it, as Chakraborty stresses, be treated like any other industry?

“Don’t get us wrong,” says Chakraborty, “We are not against the growth of IT in the state. We recognise the importance of its presence here not just for the economic development of the state but also because the industry is opening up employment opportunities for our boys and girls. But if this employment becomes exploitative, we have a problem.”

Chakraborty and other trade union (TU) leaders believe that some segments of the IT industry are flouting rules about the basic rights of workers. “For instance, they are not paying overtime beyond the eight-hour-a-day work schedule. Our main issue is to ensure that workers in the IT sector, as in all other sectors, have a forum to express their grievances as employees.”

There is rampant exploitation of the worker within the IT industry,” thunders CITU general secretary Chittabrata Mazumdar. “For example, the overtime pay regulations specified in such Indian labour policy acts as the Shops and Establishments Act, 1953, are flouted virtually without exception,” he says. Secondly, he says, companies tend to hire through agencies, which implies that the rules and regulations laid down for employers by Indian labour laws are not applicable to the employees.

The issue came up in a letter CITU president M.K. Pandhe sent labour secretary K.M. Sahni earlier this month. Pandhe urged the government to take steps to ensure the implementation of labour laws in the IT sector. “We cannot allow such arbitrary, high-handed treatment of our workers,” says Mazumdar.

In Bengal, where the government is ardently wooing the IT giants, the trade union rumblings can mean bad news. IT has made an entry ? albeit late ? into the state. The winding road leading to the entrance of the sprawling “electronic city” in Calcutta’s Salt Lake is lined with the boards of some of the biggest names in the global and domestic IT industry ? IBM, Wipro, Globsyn and Cognizant Technology Solutions, to name a few. According to Bikram Dasgupta, head of Globsyn Technologies and chief coordinator of the Bengal Infotech Entrepreneur Syndicate (BITES), which represents around 70 medium-sized IT companies based in West Bengal, the opening up of the IT sector will lead to some 1,50,000 jobs in the state in the next two to three years.

The West Bengal government would like to reassure the sector that it has its best interests in mind. “Yes, it is important to reassure our investors that a conducive atmosphere exists for the growth of the IT sector in the state,” says Biswas. “We must remember that IT arrived late to the state. So we have to try harder to catch up. While the concerns about protecting employee rights is perfectly legitimate, instead of drawing the entire industry into the category of violators, we should judge individual cases.”

Chakraborty’s insistence on roping trade unions into the IT industry is tempered with mildly-voiced suggestions. He speaks of “holding discussions with the government, IT groups and others” to determine if certain sections of IT (emergency services such as 24-hour-call centres, for instance) can be exempted from strikes. And Chakraborty stresses that there are no hard-and-fast rules here. He, in fact, doesn’t mind meeting his opponents ? those who believe in giving the IT industry special status ? half way, provided that there is “sound logic”.

But Mazumdar is scornful about anyone “implying that workers’ rights are secondary to any other consideration.” Says he: “We will not allow the rights of our workers to be sacrificed in the name of development or economic growth.”

Chittabrata Mazumdar, General Secretary, CITU There is rampant exploitation of the worker within the IT industry

Kiran Karnik, President, NASSCOM Currently there is little interest among employees on being a part of unions

Even so, one question begs an answer. How are workers defined? Are IT industry employees blue collar workers? Perhaps not. In many segments of the industry, salaries are sky high. Even if most IT companies or IT-enabled service companies such as call centres don’t have formal workers’ rights, employees have perks galore. There is, for instance, on-site work opportunity ? which entails foreign travel and earnings in foreign exchange. Employees get a high performance bonus and high increments ? often up to 45 per cent of one’s salary ? if business is good. And then there are milder attractions such as free pick-ups and drops and free meals.

Biswas raises several other points. “The most important consideration as far as the issue of violation of workers’ rights is concerned is the need to go into the depth of the problem and define what constitutes violation,” he says. “For instance, in many industries today, IT not excluded, an eight-hour-shift is not always feasible. A software engineer involved in an innovative project, say, wouldn’t necessarily be able to start work sharp at 9 am and wrap up by 6 pm. It would interrupt his thought process and it would be counterproductive.”

IT industry employees back the point. Says Soumendra Nath Kumar, senior software engineer at R.S. Software: “The work culture has changed. The nature of my work requires that I apply myself 24 hours a day, if possible. You cannot limit innovation to specific hours of the day.” Adds Indrajit Ghosh, a software engineer at IBM, “We are all educated adults. If we want to express our dissatisfaction, we don’t need to unite to do it. But at the moment I couldn’t be happier with my job. I don’t mind the work pressure. I like the challenges that it brings and I am not complaining about the pay, which I think is as good, if not better than, in any other industry.”

Indeed, the unions may find it tough to make headway in the industry. “Currently there is little interest among employees on being a part of unions. In any IT/ITES organisation, unlike traditional labour-oriented companies, any employee can walk up to the CEO or any other senior official to discuss an issue that might be of concern. This obviates one of the reasons labour unions are needed,” contends National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) president Kiran Karnik. “The IT/ITES industry, which today employs one million people, is among the best ‘looked after’ industries in India. The industry can boast of the best HR practices and policies.”

What is more, the BPO industry has an extremely high attrition rate because employees are in high demand. “Demand outstrips the supply of talent, and with a porous workforce, unions will find it difficult to sustain membership within an organisation, which will impact their ability to build a critical density,” notes Indu Khattar, general manager, Wipro Technologies, Calcutta. “Worldwide, union memberships are declining as education levels rise and the youth seek upward mobility.”

That’s the problem West Bengal’s unions face too. With many industries having faded away in the state, the unions have lost clout and now seek to establish their presence in a sunrise industry.

Biswas reveals that next on the agenda, as far as the state government is concerned, is meeting various groups, including trade unions and IT industry people and working out solutions. “We [CITU and the party] are drawn together by the same interests and the same ideologies,” Biswas says. Indeed, the current scenario is like the left arm and the right arm of the same body locked in an arm wrestle, with the IT industry as the prize to be won. Only this time, both happen to be left ? though both think they are right.