IT industry body NITES writes to the Ministry of Labour and Employment seeking a mandatory work from home advisory for the IT and ITES sector, backing PM Modi's call for fuel conservation and reduction of unnecessary travel.
A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi made an unusually direct appeal to ordinary Indians to revive pandemic-era work habits in the national interest, India's IT industry has moved quickly to formalize the idea urging the Labour Ministry to issue a nationwide work-from-home advisory to back the Prime Minister's call.
The trigger was a speech Modi delivered at a BJP public gathering at Parade Grounds in Secunderabad on Sunday, May 10. Addressing the meeting, Modi appealed to citizens to conserve fuel, use public transport, revive work from home, avoid non-essential goods purchases and overseas vacations to save foreign exchange, as India navigates the economic fallout of the ongoing war in West Asia.
The context could not be starker. The Strait of Hormuz blockade has stretched to 75 days, severely disrupting global oil and gas exports and pushing crude oil prices higher for three consecutive months a situation that directly strains India, which imports the bulk of its energy needs.
PM highlighted "During the Corona period, we developed many systems of work from home, online meetings, and video conferences. Today, the demands of the times are such that if we restart these systems, it will be in the national interest," he said. His case was economic and straightforward: every commute saved means less petrol burned, which means less foreign exchange spent importing crude.
The appeal marks one of the strongest endorsements of hybrid and remote work practices since offices across India resumed normal operations after the pandemic. Much of Modi's speech focused on cutting fuel consumption at both individual and institutional levels urging city residents to prioritise metro and public transport, recommending carpooling where private vehicles are necessary, and encouraging wider adoption of electric vehicles alongside greater use of railways for freight movement.
The IT sector, which has the infrastructure and precedent for large-scale remote working, was among the fastest to respond. Industry body representatives wrote to the Labour Ministry asking it to convert the Prime Minister's appeal into a formal advisory one that would give companies the policy cover to roll out WFH arrangements without navigating individual employer-employee contractual ambiguities.
Nasscom, which had earlier advised IT employees stationed in the Middle East to work from home as tensions escalated and asked member companies to avoid travel to affected parts of the region, has also been pushing WFH protocols more broadly as the crisis deepens.
The broader sweep of Modi's appeal covered everything from consumption habits to agricultural practices. He urged people to avoid unnecessary foreign travel and destination weddings abroad, asked families to hold off on non-essential gold purchases for a year, and called on farmers to cut chemical fertiliser use by 50 per cent and switch to solar-powered irrigation pumps instead of diesel-run alternatives.
Modi also framed the effort in moral terms: "Patriotism is not only about the willingness to sacrifice one's life on the border. In these times, it is about living responsibly and fulfilling our duties to the nation in our daily lives," he said.
Read more news like this on www.etnownews.com