Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday expressed disagreement over Larsen & Toubro (L&T) Chairman Subramaniam’s recent comment on ’90 hours of work’. Kharge said sarcastically that the company still has some outstanding dues. Actually, the new headquarters of Congress Party ‘Indira Bhawan’ has been built by L&T itself. Subramanian’s comments sparked controversy on social media, in which he advocated a 90-hour working week and suggested that employees should not take leave even on Sundays. He also asked this question, “How long can you stare at your wife?”
Responding to this, Kharge said, “I thank the company, but I do not accept the fact that the CEO of the company said that one should work for 90 hours. If a laborer works for eight hours, he gets tired. Pandit Nehru and Babasaheb Ambedkar had said while making the Factory Law that there would be no more than eight hours of work daily, but they are talking about 12 and 14 hours of work.”
Kharge referred to Subramanian’s remarks while addressing party leaders after the inauguration of the party’s new headquarters and thanked the company workers. He also cheekily said that the company still has to pay some dues.
Last year, Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy had also sparked debate by saying that youth should be prepared to work 70 hours a week. Kharge also rejected the idea, saying they should abandon it, but praised the company’s work.
