Kharge disagrees with L&T chairman's 90-hour work week suggestion

Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday expressed disagreement with Larsen & Toubro chairman S.N. Subrahmanyan's suggestion of a 90-hour work week and recalled that former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Dr B.R. Ambedkar, the prime mover behind India's Constitution, had advocated that workers should not be made to work for more than eight hours in a day.

Addressing party leaders after the inauguration of the Congress' new headquarters at 9A, Kotla Road, Kharge lauded the work done by L&T Construction in building the new headquarters. "I would like to thank L&T construction...some dues are also left from our side," Kharge said to peals of laughter.

"I would like to thank L&T Construction, architects, and labourers involved in the construction. While I thank the company... but the company's CEO has made a remark of working 90 hours a week. I don't agree with that," the Congress chief said.

A labourer works for eight hours and gets tired, which is why Nehru and Ambedkar had stated while drafting the Factory Act that workers should not be made to do more than eight hours of work, he said.

"After that someone said nine hours, but he (L&T chief) is now talking of 12 hours, 14 hours, he should leave that (view), but I thank the company because they have done a very good job. I would also like to thank the labourers for their hard work," Kharge said.

The Congress president also thanked Priyanka Gandhi Vadra for overseeing the work of construction and completion at the party's new headquarters.

Subrahmanyan had sparked widespread outrage with his comments advocating a 90-hour work week and suggesting that employees should even give up Sundays.

"How long can you stare at your wife?" he is heard saying in a purported video address to employees where he urged them to spend less time at home and more in the office.

His remarks reignited the work-life balance debate, first triggered by Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy's suggestion of a 70-hour work week last year.

"I regret I am not able to make you work on Sundays. If I can make you work on Sundays, I will be more happy because I work on Sundays," Subrahmanyan is heard saying in an undated video circulating on social media.

"What do you do sitting at home? How long can you stare at your wife? How long can the wives stare at their husbands? Come on, get to the office and start working," he also said.