Kochi Infopark a drugs hub?

# Dr. G. Shreekumar Menon

At the 2023 G7 Summit in Hiroshima, Japan, G7 leaders affirmed their commitment to identify new opportunities to scale the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGII), to work towards the goal of mobilizing hundreds of billions of dollars in infrastructure financing – delivering energy, physical, digital, health, and climate-resilient infrastructure. During the Summit, G7 leaders were joined by leaders and senior officials of Australia, Comoros, Cook Islands, India, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Republic of Korea, and the World Bank.
While world leaders and captains of various industries were deliberating on ways and means to upgrade their IT hubs, the Thrikkakara Municipality in Kerala, was busy enunciating a policy to impose a shutdown on eateries from 11 PM to 4 AM on the specious plea that the Info Park Kochi is a drugs hub!

InfoPark Kochi is located towards the eastern side of Kochi, at Kakkanad, and sprawls over 260 acres and has over 9.2 million sq. ft of built-up area. Over 540 major and prestigious companies like Tata Consultancy Services, WIPRO, Xerox, KPMG, EY, Cognizant Technology Solutions, EXL Service, UST Global, IBS Software Services, ZELLIS HR India, Hubbel, Mari Apps, Fragomen Immigration Services, RCG Global Services, INSPIRED Software Development, HCL Technologies, BYJU’s, IBM India Software Labs, etc. form the clientele. The campus is a workplace for over 63000 IT professionals and is notified as an IT/ITES Sector Specific Special Economic Zone (SEZ).

This prestigious IT hub of Kerala also of India, is seen as a hub of drugs, by the civic body of Thrikkakara Municipality. This hub works round the clock, catering to the IT requirements of companies spread across different global jurisdictions and time zones. The food requirements of this massive workforce are catered to by innumerable restaurants, that also work round the clock. There are small, medium, and expensive food joints, that cater to employees of different economic strata and budgets.

The Municipality has suddenly discovered that the InfoPark is also a hub of drugs. Though InfoPark started functioning since the year 2004, after over 18 years, it has been unravelled that it is a hub of drugs, and to control this, there is no other way but to debar the eateries from functioning between 11 PM to 4 AM! Most InfoPark employees work according to Pacific time to suit the requirements of companies in the USA, Canada, and Mexico. Should these IT professionals starve and work because the Municipality thinks that they are all on drugs?

This brings us to the important question, of whether public officials should make asinine pronouncements, that make a mockery of our IT professionals and their work ethics and culture. What will the world be thinking, are Indian IT professionals in Info Park, high on drugs while at work? Consider the following:

1. One of the characteristic signs of a drug use problem is the deterioration of workplace performance. The cognitive, emotional, and behavioural impairment that results from drug or alcohol use can affect productivity, morale, and even the safety of other co-workers. Is there a single such instance at the Kochi IT Park?

2. Commonly noticed impacts of drug use are:
(a) loss of productivity and poor performance
(b) lateness and absenteeism
(c) safety concerns
(d) bad behaviour or poor discipline
(e) adverse effects on company image and customer relations
Has any IT firm in Info Park or their foreign clientele noticed such deviant behaviour in the workforce?

3. Companies in InfoPark could be breaking the law if they knowingly allow drug-related activities in their workplace, and they fail to act. The implications to both employees and businesses of not tackling drug misuse can be deleterious. Have the Municipal authorities noted any such instances?

4. The Municipal authorities have a social responsibility, and in pursuance of this, have they promulgated any policies relating to:
(a) Drug misuse at work – a guide for employers
(b) Developing and implementing workplace drug policies
(c) Made any Workplace drugs policy – example of a model policy?
(d) Workplace drugs and alcohol policies – any guidelines for the InfoPark workforce?

5. Has the Municipality ever sought the guidance and help of enforcement agencies, both, Central and State, to ascertain the extent of the drug problem in InfoPark?

6. Has the Municipality conducted any Anti-Drug Awareness program for Info Park employees? If not, why?

7. Is there any example anywhere in the world of a drug menace being eradicated, by imposing time restrictions on eateries?

The Municipality will never be able to give a satisfactory response to any of the above queries. But by a preposterous policy announcement, they have brought the Info Park, an absolute loss of face, and defamed the 63, 000 strong workforce. Infoparks are mushrooming across India and the competition is intense to attract industrialists and competent workforce. At such a crucial time, a Municipality, coming out with damaging accusations against the workforce and branding them as drug users is a great insult. The eateries and their workforce have to put up with the stigma of being castigated as drug-joints and suppliers of drugs, without an iota of evidence.

Instead of painting every institution and the workforce in black, the Municipality should conduct a comprehensive overview of the extent and nature of different types of interventions needed in workplaces in the InfoPark for employees having drug-related problems. Also, to be examined are:

• company policies focusing on the consumption of drugs in the workplace and support for employees with drug use problems.
• conduct regular education and training programmes addressing drug issues, preferably as part of wider health promotion programmes.
• formal screening and drug testing in safety-critical workplaces.
• interventions to identify employees experiencing drug-related problems and provide support for them, including the facilitation of referral to treatment and rehabilitation programmes.
• conduct, exploring sessions to identify organisational-level factors that may be contributing to drug-related problems among the workforce.

The Municipality authorities should learn and understand the rapid growth globally of short-term work arrangements and what is known as ‘precarious work’. Features of these working practices include lack of social/individual control over working conditions; the fragmentation of working times and spaces; overlapping or blurred boundaries between work and personal life or difficulty in achieving a balance between paid work and other aspects of life; conditions of competition, shortage of work and threats to one’s livelihood; and a high level of monitoring of employees. All of these factors may increase the likelihood of using drugs in order to manage competing pressures and stresses. Shutting down eateries is not the solution.

The author is former Director General of National Academy of Customs, Indirect Taxes & Narcotics