Even as CITU remained firm on including the Information Technology (IT) sector in the nationwide industrial strike on December 14, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee kept a window of hope open by announcing that the newly-created union for the sector had assured him it would not strike work.

West Bengal's Left Front government had granted the IT sector the status of a public utility around four years ago, but CITU has been trying to test its strength by setting up an association that claims to represent workers in the IT and IT-enabled services sectors.

On Tuesday, Shyamal Chakraborty, CITU's State president and chief advisor to the West Bengal IT Services Association (WBITSA), stressed that CITU does not recognise IT as an emergency service. "IT will not be kept out of the purview of the December 14 strike," Chakraborty told reporters at CITU's headquarters.

Three hours later, the Chief Minister said the association had assured him that it would not disrupt work. "I have spoken to the IT union and they have told me that there will be no strike there," said Bhattacharjee, referring to the Sector V belt of Salt Lake, which is the State's IT hub.

"The employers have also promised to provide transport for their staff," said Bhattacharjee, adding, "IT chakka will run on December 14."

Since CITU is part of the December 14 strike, all government-run transport and most private buses and taxis will also go off the road, unlike in bandhs called by the Opposition parties, when the government makes it a point to run its fleets. Last year, in its first attempt to muscle into the IT sector, CITU had put up road blockades and stopped vehicles ferrying staff of the software and business process outsourcing (BPO) firms during the all-India strike on September 30.

But the secretary of the WBITSA, Somnath Bhattacharya, told Newsline that it would not attempt to force a bandh in Sector V this time. "We have decided not to picket or put up road blockades or attempt to force any shutdown," Bhattacharya said.

The WBITSA was formed on November 14, and has ten office-bearers and an unspecified number of members so far.

Prof Debesh Das, the State's IT Minister, has also stated clearly that the government wants the IT sector to function without hindrance on December 14. "The government will not force anyone to strike or will not allow anybody to prevent those willing to work from going to their workplace," Das told Newsline.

The WBITSA's Bhattacharya said the union has not instructed its members to stay away from work or strike work.