Section 144 Cr. P.C.

Chandigarh, 29^th December, 2016: It has been made to appear to Sh. Ajit Balaji Joshi, I.A.S., District Magistrate, Chandigarh that there is mushrooming of BPOs, prominently known as Call Centres, Corporate Houses, Media Houses, Companies, Organizations and firms in Chandigarh and near-by areas, offering employment opportunity to youth. The employees including women from various parts of the neighboring states are staying in different parts of city and other adjoining cities/villages. Their employers are providing cab services for the purpose of picking and dropping them from their places of stay to office and back. As these organizations are functioning round the clock, the cabs are ferrying employees even at late night hours. These cabs are hired on contract and their operators and drivers are not properly monitored to ensure safe & secure transportation of employees, resulting in grave danger to human life, safety & security of employees, especially women employees. It has come to notice that certain criminal and anti-social elements look for soft targets, particularly during odd hours. The women employees who travel during late night hours are vulnerable to crime and criminal acts by such elements.

 Whereas, Sh. Ajit Balaji Joshi, IAS, District Magistrate, Chandigarh is of the opinion that some check is necessary on such companies/organizations/employers providing pick & drop facility to their employees in late night hours, transporters, security agencies/guards & drivers so as to ensure the security & safety of employees, especially women employees working till late hours.

Now therefore, Sh. Balaji Joshi, IAS, District Magistrate, Chandigarh in exercise of the powers vested with him under section 144 Cr. P.C. direct that all such organizations like BPOs, Call Centres, Corporate Houses, Media Houses, companies, firms & other similar entities, having the facility of pick & drop for their employees and the transporters, security agencies, drivers & security guards attached/concerned with them, in the jurisdiction of Chandigarh, shall:

1.     Maintain a data of all employees, security personnel, cab drivers & contractual workers working with them, for access by the Police as and when required.

2.     Hire security personnel & other contractual personnel as far as possible from licensed agencies only.

3.     Ensure verification of antecedents of all their employees including contractual employees.

4.     Ensure that women employees are not made to travel alone with the cab driver and a duly verified security guard or a male colleague is deployed in each cab carrying women staff during night hours, i.e., 08.00 P.M. to 07.00 A.M.

5.     Choose the route in such manner that as far as possible a woman employee is not the first one to be picked up or the last to be dropped.

6.     Ensure that during night hours, the cab involved in transportation of women employees pick-up and drop such employee right in their house and remain halted at the point where the women employee is dropped till she confirms her arrival at their residence/place of stay through a telephone call.

7.     Ensure that whenever the house of a woman employee is so located that the approach road is not motor-able, the duly verified security guard or the male colleague, during night hour, accompanies the employee on foot up to her house & takes a confirmation about her safe arrival.

8.     Exercise effective check & control on the vehicles movement in order to check any unwarranted activities of the cab drivers, such as picking up strangers, straying away from the designated route, etc.

9.     Get GPS system installed in the cabs used in transportation of such employees, especially women employees.

This order shall come into force with effect from zero hours on 30.12.2016 and shall be effective up to and including 12.02.2016.