The party’s consumer cell on December 26 sent letters to several BPOs located in Mindspace-Malad and the Godrej-Vikhroli stretch, asking them to reply within seven days of receiving the letters—Newsline is in possession of the copies of some of these letters.

Among the queries are: Whether the antecedents of the drivers ferrying BPO staffers home are verified by the police? What are their work timings? Do security guards escort staffers home? Are these security guards registered with the government or the police? Do these companies have any back-up plans when a vehicle carrying women employees breaks down midway?

“There will be surprise visits (by Sena activists) at night to ensure everything is in place. In case it isn’t, then we will rectify it in our own way. The Sena is clear that the young girls and boys working at these places deserve a safe working environment,” said Anil Parab, a Shiv Sena Member of Legislative Council (MLC) and the brain behind the project.

“Our boys will be moving around in the places where these BPO vehicles are parked and will gather information about the system so that we are sure that the BPOs don’t lie to us when they reply to our letters,” said Parab.

Parab said groups of Sena activists had already started making the rounds of these parking lots to take down vehicle numbers and details of drivers. Some of the members of the party’s Consumer Cell, Parab said, had started doing the homework on contractors who supply vehicles to these companies in large numbers.

Pradipto Bagchi, senior general manager, corporate communications, Tata Consultancy Services, said that his company was already at the forefront of providing safety to its employees.

“Our drivers are verified thoroughly and their antecedents checked before they are allowed to drive our employees. A rule here is that no lady employee will be picked up first or dropped last. And in case for any reason it has to, then a security guard accompanies the woman employee to the doorstep,” said Bagchi.

Sanjay Luthra, director, 3 Global Services, said, “We have security guards in our cars and also ensure that in case there is a woman employee in the car, she is not the last one to be dropped. We check the antecedents of our drivers and also train them. Moreover, all our cars are connected with GPRS. I believe the company does its utmost to ensure the safety of our transport systems.”

Vinit Mittal, managing director, Stream BPO, said, “Any people-centric organisation has to keep its employees satisfied and safety is prime among them. We are working towards ensuring highest safety for our employees when they are being transported to and from work and will continue doing that.”

The Sena’s letter comes nearly two months after the alleged rape and murder of Jyoti Chaudhary, 22, an employee of Wipro Spectramind in Pune. Her body was found on November 2 last year at Gaunje village at Talegaon near the Mumbai-Pune Expressway. On November 3, the Pune police arrested two men working with the company supplying vehicles to Wipro.