'No plan to bring IT, ITeS sectors under Esma'

KOLKATA: The official formation of the first Citu-backed IT services association may just be five days away but the West Bengal government has no immediate plans to introduce an Amendement Bill in the state legislature to confer the status of “essential services” to the IT/ITeS sector.

Sources in the state parliamentary affairs department indicated on Thursday that the West Bengal government would not place any Bill in the upcoming winter session of the state legislature to bring IT/ITeS within the realm of ‘essential services’.

Historically, the West Bengal government has never invoked the Essential Services Maintenance Act (Esma), 1981, in the state since the Left parties are vehemently opposed to its implementation.

In fact, the IT/ ITeS sector in the state enjoys the status of `public utility services’. The government had earlier issued a notification back in calender 2004 under the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, to treat IT/ITeS as public utility service.

However, legal circles stressed that the IT/ITeS sector in the state categorically did not come within the ambit `essential services’ , in the spirit of police services, fire services, milk supplies, electricity or even hospital services.

Incidentally, the Industrial Disputes Act empowers the state government to declare any service “as public utility” for a period not exceeding six months. Accordingly, the state has to issue another order after the expiry of the previous one if it wishes to continue with the `public utility services’ status for a particular sector beyond the six-month validity period.

However, the state government does not need to table an amendment Bill in the state legislature to confer public utility service status. A government order (GO) is adequate to confer such status.

In case of IT, the state government has been doing just this since calender 2004. Not surprisingly, state IT minister Debesh Das, is learnt, to have urged the state labour department to issue a fresh GO to retain public utiltiy services status for IT/ITeS sector in West Bengal.

Sources in the state IT department said the government would issue another order after the expiry of the current one to treat IT as public utility service. “The IT department will soon urge the labour department to initiate measures to issue a fresh order,” a senior IT department official told ET on Thursday.

Not suprisingly, the possibility of the government ruling out `essential services’ status for IT/ITeS appears to have pleased Citu and Intuc circles in the state. “We know IT isn’t an essential service.

We will not budge an inch from our decision to float our association in the IT sector even in case the state government initiates measures to treat IT as an essential service,” said Citu state secretary Kali Ghosh on Thursday.

West Bengal Intuc president and former Kolkata mayor Subrata Mukherjee went a step ahead in saying that no one could prevent them from floating trade unionism at the IT sector.

“A section of CPM leaders are trying to create confusion over the issue of trade unionism at the IT sector by issuing statements that IT is an essential service. Even if that is so, there is no constitutional bar on trade unions to enter IT sector,” Mr Mukherjee claimed.