Amid the debate over the 90-hour workweek and work-life balance, the Andhra Pradesh government plans to implement a work-from-home policy, especially for women. This initiative, part of the IT & GCC Policy 4.0, aims to improve work-life balance and boost employment opportunities in the state.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu announced the new initiative in a post on LinkedIn. His post read, "Andhra Pradesh is planning Work From Home in a big way, especially for women. Work landscape underwent a shift during the Covid-19 pandemic. With technology readily available to scale, Work From Home gained prominence. Concepts such as remote work, coworking spaces (CWS), and Neighbourhood Workspaces (NWS) can empower businesses and employees alike to create flexible, productive work environments."
According to Naidu, this initiative under the IT & GCC Policy 4.0 will help to promote work-life balance.
“Such initiatives can help us strike a better work-life balance as well. We plan to harness these trends to drive meaningful change in AP. The Andhra Pradesh IT & GCC Policy 4.0 is a game-changing step in that direction. We're offering incentives for developers to create IT office spaces in every city/town/mandal and supporting IT/GCC firms to generate employment at the grassroots,” Naidu said.
Naidu advocated that such a move would help to promote workforce participation. “I'm confident these initiatives will foster greater workforce participation, especially of women professionals, who will benefit through flexible remote/hybrid work options,” he added.
Naidu announced this new initiative in his International Day of Women.
The new policy comes after L&T chairman SN Subrahmanyan sparked an online debate after his video advocating a 90-hour work week went viral.
In the video, he asked if the employees should even give up Sundays. Subrahmanyan asked, "How long can you stare at your wife."
“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. 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 added.
Recently, the Economic Survey 2025-26, tabled by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on January 31 highlighted the working hours of the country. India compares with Germany, Vietnam, and the UK regarding the average weekly working hours at the highest level of 48 hours.
(By arrangement with livemint.com)