Industry anxious, sees report as formality

The Srikrishna committee report has made companies think about the security of their workforce.

For instance, Cognizant Technologies and other companies in Gachibowli, a major information technology suburb of Hyderabad, allowed its employees to leave office early in view of the protests that erupted at Osmania University after the committee’s report was released.

ADP Limited, a BPO company, has kept some hotels ready for its employees to avoid travel when protests flare. The company needs its workforce round the clock to support its BPO operations across time zones.

The company is located in the heart of the city, at Somajiguda. Last year, too, when the statehood demand peaked, this company had shifted some of its staff members to the nearby Katriya Hotel.

“We are told that accommodation will be provided to ensure the work is not affected,” said an employee.

“We will make transport arrangements for our employees if there is a bandh tomorrow,” said a top official of Mahindra Satyam.

IT company eZ Soft Solutions declared a holiday for its staff tomorrow in anticipation of a bandh and an outbreak of violence, but has instead asked them to report to work on Saturday, said Amarnath, a senior manager.

According to E Sudhir Reddy, chairman and managing director of IVRCL, the report will bring in a positive change in the infrastructure industry. It implies the government will step in some time to take a concrete decision. There will be minor issues in the initial days but they will settle soon. “The industry’s focus will be on growth and business continuity, irrespective of the geographic region,” he said.

Hyderabad, the bulk drug capital of the country, will see some business moving to Visakhapatnam if it is made a common capital, according to a senior official of a city-based molecular medicine and diagnostics company.

According to Narayana Reddy, past president of the Bulk Drugs Manufacturers Association, the industry will suffer on both counts — demands for a separate state and a unified state. “In either case, the disturbance will be a temporary phenomenon,” he said.

During last year’s agitation, the bulk drugs industry’s productivity has fallen drastically. “A loss of productivity cannot be made up in the manufacturing sector,” he said, recollecting that some employees had feared to come to work during last year’s agitation, while trucks with raw materials were stranded on the roads.

“IT companies operate on global factors. We have no say in political decisions like a separate state or an united state. It is for the government to decide,” said G V Kumar, CEO and managing director of Hyderabad-based IT company Megasoft Limited. He says the government should not drag the issue too long lest the situation halt the industry’s growth.

Suresh Kumar, president of IT and IT-enabled Services Industry Association of Andhra Pradesh, said the report has not helped in diffusing the anxiety in IT industry, which would be neutral to any political decision. “The issue needs a solution from the government. This report does little to allay fears of the industry,” he said.

Though anxiety has been building up among the trade circles, it has not deterred the growth of the industry, he tells adding that about 85 to 100 new companies have registered with the Software Technology Parks of India since last one year around Hyderabad. However, the number could have been much more as some new companies have preferred Pune, Bangalore and other cities to Hyderabad, he says. He also said the growth of IT companies was governed by the global economies rather than political events. “The uncertainty should end for the industry to grow at earlier rates,” Kumar said.

A decision on the separate statehood issue will bring cheer to the real estate sector, according to realtor Mahesh R (name changed).