Sobia Khan | TNN
Kolkata: An IT union, often criticised for just being there, intends to set up a crèche in Sector V, the first such in the city’s tech hub, for the benefit of young mothers employed in the various infotech companies operating in the electronics complex.
West Bengal Information Technology Services Association (WBITSA) — whose establishment in November 2006 ruffled quite a few local IT honchos — has already held preliminary talks with Webel and Nabadiganta Industrial Township Authority (NITA) about being allotted space to set up such a facility.
“We heard that quite a few people were leaving their jobs in the absence of such facilities, and being a responsible body, we felt that if no one else was doing it, we should come forward and set up a crèche ourselves since our goal is to promote the cause of IT in Bengal,” WBITSA general secretary Somnath Bhattacharya said.
However, Bhattacharya declined to comment on why local IT companies, which project themselves as progressive employers and have a large number of women employees, had not set up a crèche till date in Sector V. “We are willing to work with companies for ensuring that the crèche benefits as many IT sector employees as possible,” he said, adding that modalities on size and timing are still being worked out.
NITA chairman S A Ahmed said his organisation supported the crèche initiative. “We will provide all possible help to make it a success,” Ahmed said.
Incidentally, Bangalore and Hyderabad have quite a few crèches dedicated to the children of IT employees. Over 200-odd IT/ITES companies function in Sector V, which includes the likes of India’s No. 1 software exporter TCS, No. 3 exporter Wipro, as well as global biggies like IBM and Cognizant.
Both TCS and Wipro, though, are examining the benefits of having independent crèches for the benefit of their staff. Even the merits of a shared facility are being explored. “We may come up with one or share a common facility,” TCS human resources head Ajoyendra Mukherjee said.
