Implement 5-day work week to save fuel, costs: T govt employees

Hyderabad: Telangana govt employees have revived their demand for a five-day work week following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s appeal to citizens for austerity measures including saving of fuel & electricity.

The joint action committee (JAC) of state govt employees has written to chief secretary Ramakrishna Rao urging him to take a favourable decision to implement five-day work week on the lines of central govt departments and institutions. It said this will help Telangana govt save power, reduce vehicle pollution and enhance efficiency of employees. Even IT industry works five days a week, the JAC said.

The committee wrote that central and state govts are taking steps to reduce dependence on imported petroleum products and for greater use of sustainable public transport. “In this context, we request the govt for implementation of five-day work week with timings from 10am to 6pm (40 hours a week), instead of current six working days with timings being 10.30am to 5pm (39 hours a week),” the JAC stated.

“With this proposal, there will be no burden on the exchequer, and it will benefit the state govt,” JAC secretary general Eluri Sreenivasa Rao told TOI. The JAC urged the chief secretary to inform chief minister A Revanth Reddy about their demand.