As Telangana enters a complete lockdown till March 31 to control the spread of COVID-19, the government has excluded certain essential services, including IT and ITes (Information Technology enabled services), from the restrictions of the lockdown. While neighbouring states like Karnataka and Maharashtra, which are also under lockdown, have issued advisories to IT companies to allow employees to work from home where feasible, Telangana government officials have said that no such advisory will be issued in the state.
Telangana Principal Secretary for IT and Industries Jayesh Ranjan said that the government does not plan to issue any such directive for IT and ITes companies, and that these services will continue to remain exempt from the lockdown. The state government had earlier said companies are allowed to “make their own assessment of the situation and take a prudent call” on their work from home policies, and that multinational companies which have received global directions to work from home are free to do so.
A few companies based in Hyderabad, including Amazon and Qualcomm, have already provided the option to work-from-home for many of their employees.
Earlier on Friday, the Karnataka government issued an advisory to be followed by IT, biotech and start-up companies. The guidelines, which were announced by Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister CN Ashwath Narayan, said that all employees of IT firms and start-ups must be allowed to work from home, except those working on mission critical and essential services.
Yet, several IT firms in Bengaluru have continued to ask employees to report to the office, for reasons related to data security, confidentiality agreements with clients, and the availability of laptops for employees who regularly work on office desktops.
As of Monday afternoon, Telangana had reported 33 positive cases of coronavirus. Prior to the lockdown announced on Sunday, the government had announced the closure of all educational institutions, cinema halls and other establishments, placing restrictions on large public gatherings. The Epidemic Diseases Act 1897 has also been invoked in the state.
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