An open letter by a software engineer on barring women working in night shifts
Dear Mr. Minister,
You have no idea how happy I am for your new ruling saying that women in certain sectors are barred from working in night shifts. I think it is a very good decision that you have taken. I hear that this ruling is limited to only the private business establishments, offices, hotels and entertainment industry. Why so? I also hear that you have exempted the IT & BT companies because they provide proper transportation facilities for women who work late in the night. But it is actually not like that you know. I sometimes feel that the transportation they give is a bane than a boon. For the waiting time for the cab is like really long then once you are inside the cab the time taken to eventually drop one home makes one feel like it’s an inter city travel.
Since there is no proper clarity on why such a decision has been taken & that too involving only some of the sectors, I request you to make it clear so that the general public can understand it and no misunderstandings come in (like you know bribe and all) However I wish you had gone ahead & banned women working in the nights across industries. The other thing I don’t understand is why it is limited only to women. Why can’t men also be banned from working in the night? This coding job of mine is killing me. When I am about to leave I am get a mail reminding me about my deadlines & I end up working extra hours. My boss thinks of having meetings only post office hours. That bugger no…sorry…Have you by any chance considered extending this rule to the men as well? If you can do it something tells me you will definitely win your next election. It will save many families from breaking up. The overall health of this city’s residents will improve. On the other side you will save all these IT companies from getting unionized, because this is one of the major grievances of most working men & women these days.
Just imagine how life will be if all men & all women were to finish work by 8 PM & get home right in time to watch the 9 o clock news and have dinner together. Imagine what great service you will be doing to couples this way. Aiyoo, wait, wait… I think getting home by 9 0 clock will actually be a little difficult as the traffic will be heavy then. So may be we will finally reach home by 10 o clock, no. But we will manage that somehow, you don’t have to worry about it.
I humbly (with a silent h) request you to consider extending this rule to the men as well.
Yours forever
One software engineer.
Great write-up! The best I’ve seen in recent months. This guy is writing from his soul.
I also second the writer’s plea to ban guys also from working on nightshifts. The government should ask companies to submit the attendance records of IT companies just to know how young people are being tortured in the name of tasks, assignments and all that crap…
“Karnataka labour minister Iqbal Ansari seems to have goofed up when he announced that a legislation to ban night shifts for women has been passed by the assembly. As it turns out, there is no such legislation.”
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/TOIonline/India/Minister_shot_off_mouth_on_night_shift_ban/articleshow/2005920.cms
1. Stop reading blogs
2. Don’t spend hours together on phone
3. Spend less time on personal mails and forwards
4. Lunch time, not more than 45 minutes
5. Tea/Coffee break for not more than 10 minutes.
6. When you write code, get it right the first time. How many times you stay late for coding? And how many times you stay late for fixing the bugs you have out in?
You cant blame the IT companies for your lack of discipline
Very nice post! If only….
Hi Kumar, thanks for your support.
Regards,
One software engineer
Raghu, yes that was the news that Times had a few days back. But today’s Deccan Herald has this on its front page. Here is the link to it
http://www.deccanherald.com/Content/May102007/state20070510811.asp?section=frontpagenews
Dear Project Manager, but why meetings after office hours? Seriously though what you say makes sense.
Thanks Deepa.
I am not sure, if they are official meetings. Are they? If yes, you have a valid point and can raise it somehow by suggesting a daytime meeting. Guess, even the manager would be happy to go home soon ;)
I can’t believe this has become a joke. Do you guys even realise the far reaching consequences this stupid law can have? I was wondering why this issue has not been brought up in your metblog. Now I wish you didnt.
Speak about being hypocritial. Here we have “Project Manager” reading this blog and responding to it and advising others not to read blogs.
Oh Man – you are a real “Project Manager”. You have all signs of going up all the way from “Project Manager” to a CEO.
nice topic to discuss. Actually it would be unfair to put blame on manager alone, as he/she has to bear pressure from higher officials, sales people and customers.
sometimes inside story may be different. have a look at a write up by my friend murali http://crazykrish.blogspot.com/2006/08/software-industry-real-life-behind.html
Off topic- Hey Sandeep, no offence, but have you thought of changing the name of your blog to something else? It might be misunderstood by people who know kannada, as something that may not be the case or is it ;)
Lokesh,
I seriously think you should stop blogging and torturing all the metblog readers with your non-stop nonsense! I do not agree with you on most points.
If you hate your coding job so much, why don’t you chuck it and do something that interests you more? You’d be doing yourself a big favour! But don’t we all know why so many people like you are stuck in the software industry, its the moolah!!
Secondly, when the whole world is working toward equality, you seem to have left your grey cells in the 14th century. I think people (man or woman) should be able to work, irrespective of the time of day or night. What we need to improve on is the security arrangements by the police, the moral fibre of society and bring down crime rate.
And lastly, if you have a marriage that is in danger of breaking down due to your late working, then you are in serious trouble. While I don’t find late working acceptable, I do believe that a marriage should be made up of stronger stuff!!
We would all appreciate it very much if you could please pause to think for a moment before hitting the Publish button!!
Oh and I almost missed mentioning that you cannot use words like “bugger” here. It has a very vulgar meaning and is most often used as a substitute for the F word. You can blog whatever trash you want on your personal blog, not here.
Mr Rao,
Before jumping to conclusions, re read what I said. The response was, to the post, how to finish work early and go home. Who is stopping anyone from reading blogs before/after work? I really pity your Manager. Hope you dont jump into conclusions in your work, and make life miserable for your peers and superiors!
-A concerned PM
If Bangalore IT boys stop working after 8pm then who will support our customer support calls?? Bangalore guys..we want you to work 24/7…without fail all 365 days…:-))
Ban all night shifts in the country, except the essential services. Guys, don’t accept a job that involves night shifts and long working hours.
Guys, show the might of India. All night shift s….It’s criminal.