Karnataka techies are fuming. After a huge uproar over the state government’s proposal to reserve jobs for locals in private industries, another proposal has got them angry. The Karnataka government is now mulling a 14-hour working day for techies.
The Chief Minister Siddaramaiah-led government has so far not said anything on the issue. But the move, which has been dubbed by some as the “biggest ever attack on the working class in this era”, also prompts the question: how much work is too much? And what do extended hours of working mean for a person’s physical and mental well-being? What is the new proposal in Karnataka? Reports state that the government is looking to amend the Karnataka Shops and Commercial Establishment Act to enable employees to work for 14 hours a day, amounting to 70 hours a week if it’s a five-day working week. According to Karnataka State IT/ITeS Employees’ Union (KITU), this change if implemented would have the biggest impact on Bengaluru — known as the IT hub of the country.
KITU, opposing the amendment, said it poses an “attack on the basic right of any worker to have a personal life”. It further pointed out that this move comes at a period when the world has started to accept the fact that increased working hours are negatively impacting productivity and more countries are coming with new legislations to accept the “ right to disconnect ” as a basic right of any employee. Interestingly, this proposal comes after Infosys co-fou.