Bangalore: The rape and murder of Hewlett Packard employee Pratibha Murthy in December 2005 shook the BPO (business process outsourcing) industry, which scrambled to damage control mode and tighten security for its women employees. series of measures were announced to protect women, especially on the night shift.

Pratibha Murthy, who worked in a call centre, was allegedly murdered by a cab driver, Shivakumar, who was employed by her company. The case is still in court. But The Hindu , which talked to a cross-section of call-centre employees, found that over time, the security measures seem to have slackened. Some procedures have come to stay, but gaps are evident.

Rama Srinivasan (name changed), an employee at AOL Member Service Pvt. Ltd., said that soon after the Pratibha incident, the company put in place a rigid security system.

"The company ensured that women employees were picked up and dropped back first. A security guard always accompanied us," she said.

However, as time passed, the measures are not being adhered to. "It is not as rigid as it used to be. Over a period of time, the measures have been relaxed."

`Families relieved'

Anita Anniah (name changed), employee of HSBC Data Processing India Ltd., said that as a knee-jerk reaction to the Pratibha incident, her company too introduced stringent measures. "My family members were apprehensive in the beginning. But after they saw that the cab drivers had identity cards and that we were accompanied by security guards they were relieved. All women employees are dropped first and picked up only after a male colleague has been."

Other women employees said that though the security measures were not as stringent as before, they felt safe. With the media paying a lot of attention to security, a few companies went into overdrive.

This reporter was stonewalled by HR officials of various companies, who refused to comment. They kept passing the buck saying they were not authorised to give out "such delicate and privileged information".

However, an official of a renowned call centre, on condition of anonymity, said that in her company, the employees were given details of the driver and the vehicle through an SMS. The cab drivers had to display their identity cards.

"We also conducted awareness campaigns within the company. Every vehicle has a sticker of the helpline number that the employees can access anytime."

She added that her company also conducted vehicle audits and a reference check on the drivers. "In cases where the vehicle cannot drop the woman employee to her doorstep, a security guard accompanies her and ensures that she reaches home safely."

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