'Nehru, Ambedkar believed that workers should not be...': Mallikarjun Kharge on 90-hr work week debate

Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge also joined in the 90-hour work week debate that has been raging on since Larsen & Toubro Chairman S N Subrahmanyan suggested that employees should work that many hours in a week and if given a choice he would make them work on Sunday too. 

Disagreeing with Subrahmanyan’s statement, Kharge said even Jawaharlal Nehru and BR Ambedkar had advocated for workers to not work for more than eight hours a day. Kharge spoke of L&T Chairman’s remarks as he thanked the company for building its new headquarters at 9A, Kotla Road in Delhi. 

"I would like to thank L&T construction...some dues are also left from our side,” said Kharge to peals of laughter. He thanked the company, architects and labourers involved in building the new headquarters. “While I thank the company, the company's CEO has made a remark of working 90 hours in a week. I don't agree with that," he said. Kharge said that labourers cannot work for more than eight hours a day, and that Nehru and Ambedkar, while making the factory act, had stated that workers should not be made to work for more than eight hours a day.

"After that someone said nine hours, but he 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.

Subrahmanyan has come under severe criticism after his remarks. He had also said: “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? Come on, get to the office and start working."

Larsen & Toubro’s Head of HR, Sonica Muraleedharan, said that the chairman's words were taken out of context. “It’s truly disheartening to see how the words of our MD & Chairman, SN Subrahmanyan (SNS), have been taken out of context, leading to misunderstandings and unnecessary criticism,” she said.

He has been slammed not only for disregarding work-life balance but also for his sexist tones. A similar debate was triggered after Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy's suggestion that employees should work 70 hours a week. 

Meanwhile, the recent World Economic Forum’s ‘Future of Jobs’ report, highlighted that employees place higher value on working hours, topping other factors such as policies, while employers rank this measure lower than other measures such as pension policies to boost talent availability.