Synopsis
India's IT employee body, NITES, has urged the Labour Ministry to mandate work-from-home for its 5.8 million workforce. This move aligns with Prime Minister Modi's call for austerity measures to reduce fuel consumption and travel amid global uncertainties.In a letter to labour and employment minister Mansukh Mandaviya, the Nascent Information Technology Employees Senate (NITES) said the move aligns with Modi’s recent appeal to reduce fuel consumption, unnecessary travel and adopt remote working practices amid global uncertainties.
The employee body argued that the IT/ITES sector can implement WFH at scale without disrupting productivity, as observed during the Covid-19 pandemic, when operations continued seamlessly.
“The experience of the pandemic clearly established that mandatory work-from-home in suitable IT roles is practical, technologically feasible, and operationally sustainable,” NITES said in the letter dated 11 May.
On Sunday, the PM called on Indians to meet the challenge of disruptions to fuel and other supplies caused by the West Asian conflict by adopting austerity measures similar to the ones taken during the Covid pandemic as the country copes with a surge in its import bill.
Modi underscored the need for a reduction in petrol and diesel consumption through a greater reliance on public transport and working from home during a speech in Hyderabad on Sunday.
NITES has urged the ministry to issue an advisory directing companies to adopt WFH “wherever operationally feasible” for a defined period.
The group said that requiring lakhs of employees to commute daily despite the availability of digital alternatives places avoidable pressure on fuel consumption, urban infrastructure and public transport.
Employees in metropolitan cities often spend several hours commuting, which “results in avoidable fuel usage and environmental burden” at a time when conservation is being prioritised, the letter said.
