Pune: NITES’ Aadhar campaign to support IT employees who lost their jobs

Pune: The National Information Technology Employees Senate (NITES), an IT workers' union, has launched an 'Aadhaar Abhiyaan' campaign to help people from IT industry, who are struggling financially due to the coronavirus pandemic and have lost their jobs amid the lockdown. The campaign will be providing leads on job openings, counselling and legal course to the affected.

Employees in the IT sector which includes ITES, BPO and KPO have been hit badly by the pandemic. In the absence of projects, many IT companies have decided to cut staff, send employees to benches, take forced leave, cut salaries and retrenched.

Thousands of employees from IT organisations from Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad have lost their jobs and due to the ongoing coronavirus crisis, it’s difficult to get a new job. Now due to ease of life after Unlock 1.0 the IT industry is slowly recovering and job opportunities are emerging. The work of disseminating information to the needy is being done through the 'Aadhaar' campaign.

“As many as 800 ITians are participating in the ‘Aadhaar’ campaign. If there is a job opportunity in IT companies, the organisation will share some leads on the WhatsApp group. This will help IT workers to find employment again, "said Harpreet Saluja, General Secretary of Knight.

 FREE COUNSELING AND LEGAL AID

Many IT employees are under stress due to job loss, debts, children's school fees, illness and other expenses. Some employees have found themselves in depression and are committing suicide. Psychiatric counselling sessions, as well as motivational lectures, are being organised under the 'Aadhaar' campaign to instill hope in them. Harpreet Saluja said that the free legal aid is being provided to the employees to fight the court battle against the companies who have removed them illegally.