State government extends legal help to techies who have lost their job

IT Minister Priyank Kharge said government has written to corporate companies about concerns raised by IT employees. He said there's no transparency in the appraisal procedure and added that some employees have faced sexual harassment. Kharge said the government is planning to open centres of excellence to help graduates with skills that make them employable.

The state government now has a plan to help techies who’ve been laid off. IT Minister Priyank Kharge said the ruling Congress government will help them with legal assistance. This new development comes after employees raised their concerns about the workplace environment in the IT sector.

Kharge told the Legislative Council on Monday that the government was mindful of the job cuts in the IT sector. He added that several complaints have been raised in IT employee forums.

The minister commented on the lack of transparency in the appraisal procedure. He said that companies have been made aware of the problems raised by employees.

He said, “The companies are yet to respond,” while replying to BJP MLC Tara’s questions on the job cuts in the IT sector.

Kharge met with members of Forum for IT Employees (FITE). They said that IT companies should fall under Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act.

According to a New Indian Express report, one FITE member said, “Employees facing arbitrary terminations, unreasonable working hours and sexual harassment do not have adequate support from the law and the government.”

While talking in the legislative assembly, Kharge said visa restriction imposed by countries such as US, Singapore and Australia is one of the many reasons why job cuts have taken place in the city. He said that a rise in demand for local talent has hurt the Indian interest while stating that change in technology is another reason.

“There is a need to train employees who are already working in the field. But this can’t be  done overnight. It will be done gradually. Even the IT forum members agreed that they need re-skilling,” he said.

Apart from this, Kharge said that engineering graduates lack skills that make them employable. So far, only 7 per cent of a graduate’s skills makes him/her employable. “To reduce this gap, the government has come up with many centres of excellence to train as per needs of employer,” Kharge said.