Hyderabad: Dr P. Priyanka Reddy might not have been an IT employee, but her story has resonated with many women IT professionals. For them, too, getting home after a long day at work is quite unnerving. That some IT companies have discontinued their bus services, forcing their women employees to find their own way home, has only exacerbated these fears.
As a cost cutting measure, many IT companies, including MNCs such as Cognizant and Deloitte, discontinued two-way bus services for their employees. The employees, especially women, working in such companies have since struggled to commute long distances.
An employee of Deloitte, who lives in A.S. Rao Nagar, said she depends exclusively on carpooling apps for her commute. “These services are largely reliable, but sometimes it is incredibly difficult to find rides in the evening. When it is 8 pm and I am still in the office with no idea how I will get home, that is when I panic,” she said, preferring to remain anonymous.
She added that she sometimes uses the Metro and gets off at Mettuguda if her husband is home and can pick her up from there.
“When I used the company bus, there was no problem at all,” she said.
Some companies offer cab rides to women who stay beyond 9 pm. However, an employee asked, “It is too late. If I finish work at 7:30 pm, should I wait till 9 pm for a free ride?”
An employee of Cognizant said, “Car-pooling is generally safe. But cab rides can be quite scary, especially at night. I usually talk to my husband on the phone just to alert the driver that I am being tracked.”
Hexagon, another MNC with an office in Madhapur, has also announced it will discontinue its bus service from January. “We have been told this is because the Hyderabad Metro has begun operations. I am now worried. I don’t know how I will commute home every day,” said a woman from Nacharam.
Several other IT professionals from the Raheja Mindspace area said their companies were considering discontinuing bus services.
“My family is letting me work because my company offers me transport due to my night-shift. If I move to a day-shift and I don’t get transport facilities, my family will force me to resign,” said a 22-year-old employee of Cognizant.
