Lucknow, Jul 13 (UNI) IT major Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has decided to close its operations centre in Lucknow and shift the employees to other centres like Indore, Varanasi and Noida. TCS vice-president Tej Paul Bhatla was here yesterday and has asked majority of project managers to finish their programmes by December or shift to the centres in Indore, Noida and continue working there. The project managers have also been asked to convey the message to their team members. The company’s move is set to put the more than 2000 IT professionals, working at the TCS Lucknow centre, in jeopardy. With almost 50 per cent of those working in the centre being females, living with their families in Lucknow, shifting to a new city might will be an immense challenge for them. However, officials claimed that only a handful of employees of around 300 could be kept in Lucknow for some selected projects though another centre in Varanasi, the Parliamentary constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is being set up by TCS. Meanwhile, the employees of the TCS Lucknow have sent a letter to UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to use his office to force the management not to shift the Lucknow Centre anywhere else. In the two-page letter, the employees ,without giving any names, have narrated in detail about the conspiracy to shift the Lucknow TCS unit. The letter has been posted in the social media. The letter further raises questions about how a company earning Rs 25,000 crore in profits could be short of funds leading to the shifting of Lucknow unit. The employees have asked for an inquiry into the matter and stated that the company was not going to invest a rupee in Varanasi, but were looking to outsource it. But reports said the decision to shift the Lucknow unit was taken as the operations were not profitable for the company and the revision of the rent contract of TCS Lucknow’s premises added to the woes. The 10-year lease, which expired in May 2017, was extended for another 11 months after failed negotiations between the builder and the company. TCS Lucknow currently houses in Awadh Park, located in the Vibhuti Khand area of Gomti Nagar in Lucknow. TCS, however, came out with an official statement and said, “The Lucknow centre had less than 1000 employees. It was not a convenient place for client related work. TCS is looking to consolidate its operations in Uttar Pradesh and the current Lucknow workforce will shift its operations to Noida and Varanasi. All employees will be relocated, no one will be fired.” UNI MB SW SB 1404