Labour Minister Santosh Lad claims that the proposal to extend work hours got here from the IT firms, and was not initiated by the federal government of Karnataka, on July 22, 2024.
| Picture Credit score: Murali Kumar Ok
The Karnataka State IT/ITeS Workers’ Union (KITU) is planning large campaigns and large-scale mobilisation towards the controversial proposal to increase the work hours of IT employees to 14 hours.
Whereas gate conferences at IT parks and road campaigns are being deliberate all through the week, the union can be planning to organise a procession to the Labour Commissioner’s workplace on August 3.
A file photograph of a tech park in Bengaluru. The union is planning gate conferences at IT parks and road campaigns all through the week, and a procession to the Labour Commissioner’s workplace in Bengaluru on August 3, 2024.
| Picture Credit score:
SUDHAKARA JAIN
“We’re planning campaigns at 32 items. On August 3, we’ll organise an enormous procession through which numerous IT workers would march to the workplace of the Labour Commissioner,” mentioned Sooraj Nidiyanga, secretary, KITU.
The union has been sharing its membership utility type on social media platforms to mobilise extra folks to affix the trigger.
Push from the business
In the meantime, throughout an interplay with mediapersons, Labour Minister Santosh Lad mentioned that the proposal to extend work hours got here from the IT firms, and was not initiated by the federal government of Karnataka.
“It’s not the Minister who got here up with this proposal. The industries are pressurising us. The Labour Division is evaluating the proposal,” he mentioned.
Citing the dissent amongst IT workers relating to the proposal, the Minister recommended that business heads talk about and debate it publicly. “The IT heads, the so-called large folks in India, should talk about and inform us what they consider this. For every little thing (else) they arrive out (and speak),” he mentioned in what appeared like a snub to the business leaders who’ve been strongly opposing a Invoice proposed by the federal government to provide representation to locals in the private sector.
Nasscom helps 48-hour workweek
Business affiliation Nasscom responded to the controversy by saying that that they had not requested a 14-hour workday or a 70-hour workweek,
“We totally help the 48-hour workweek, which is the usual throughout India. All we have now requested of the States and the Central Authorities is to think about some flexibility inside this 48-hour restrict. This might assist firms with a pan-India presence to standardise their operations. In Karnataka, we had an analogous dialogue with the IT Division just a few months in the past. We didn’t, nonetheless, have a gathering with the Labor Division on this matter,” mentioned Ashish Aggarwal, Vice-President & Head of Public Coverage, Nasscom.
What union says
The union phrases phrases like ‘flexibility from IT firms’ a farce.
“This can be a technique by firms to make folks work extra throughout busy months like December and March. This fashion, the businesses wouldn’t have to rent additional fingers, and this could fetch them big income. That is what they’re attempting to say by utilizing phrases like flexibility,” mentioned Sooraj Nidiyanga.
Round 20 lakh individuals work within the IT sector in Karnataka. On July 20, KITU had warned that any try to go together with the modification could be an open problem to this big part of individuals.
