Image via indiatoday.com
The Indian Association of IT and other white collar workers, a quasi-union body that caters to the interests of salaried, office going, cubicle dwelling, laptop hugging workers, has demanded that access to social media sites, Gmail, Cricinfo and other ‘timepass’ sites during officer hours be enshrined as a fundamental right, and accorded the same sanctity as other rights that Indian citizens now take for granted such as Right to Equality, Right to Elementary Education, Right to Information.
Noted labour rights lawyer and humanitarian Harsh Mander said banning such sites in any case constitutes a violation of Article 21 of the Indian Constitution, which guarantees the right to live with dignity, and protects all those aspects which make a man’s life meaningful, complete and worth living.
“How can an IT worker have a life during work hours if he is not allowed to relax by doing time pass on Twitter or FB?” Mander cogently argued. “Is this just and humane treatment of workers? Facebook and Cricinfo are for harried IT workers what on site urinals and drinking water facilities are for laborers toiling away on construction sites. So firms that restrict access to these life enhancing sites should be severely punished for violation of the dignity of workers,” was Mander’s legal and moral argument.
The Indian IT Association has accordingly filed a PIL with the Supreme Court seeking redress for grave violation of Article 21. “We hope the honorable Supreme Court will dispose of the petition well before the World Cup begins so that Indian software engineers around the world, whether in US or India, don’t have to take sick leave to follow key matches,” Harsh Mander said.
The IT workers Union will also press for other IT and white collar labour reforms:
1) Banning project deadlines: A cursory reading makes it clear that deadlines constitute a clear violation of the Right to Life and IT workers may be on strong legal grounds here to get this barbaric, medieval practice repealed.
2) Banning the pernicious practice of managers sneaking up from behind and peering over the shoulder of the IT worker: This again is a gross violation of the Right to Privacy under the all-encompassing Right to Life. “After we get the ban on social media sites lifted, making it illegal for the boss to sneak up on the unsuspecting IT worker from behind and giving him a scare will be our top priority,” promised Mander.
3) Doing away with cubicles as it is awkward to read certain sections of Rediff, ToI from them, and therefore constitutes a violation of the Right to Information, another fundamental right guaranteed by the Constitution of India.
AAP has thrown its full weight behind the movement for better working conditions for aam white collar workers, adding its own demand: better pay scales and perks so that the aam IT worker can also travel business class along with senior executives.