Effort and Availability Archives

Fourteen Hours

In July 2024 reports said that Karnataka was considering an amendment to its Shops and Commercial Establishments Act. Working hours in IT companies were to rise to 14 a day, including overtime. The labour minister, Santosh Lad, said: “Obviously, since the pressure is from the industry, the bill has come to us.”

The IT employees’ union KITU protested in Bengaluru. In 2025 a revised draft proposed 10-hour days and more overtime. The union called it an “inhuman attempt to impose modern-day slavery.” In July 2025 Deccan Chronicle reported that the government had dropped the proposal.

The Right to Disconnect

In 2018 Supriya Sule, a member of the Lok Sabha, introduced the Right to Disconnect Bill. It was to give every employee the right “to disconnect from work related telephone calls and emails beyond work hours.” She introduced it again in 2019 and in December 2025.

The 2025 version would let employees ignore work messages after hours and would require overtime pay when they respond. It is a private member’s bill, and it has not been passed.

Ten Minutes

“10,000+ products delivered in 10 minutes,” the quick-commerce app Blinkit promised. Zepto and Swiggy Instamart made similar promises. Gig-worker unions called a nationwide strike on New Year’s Eve 2025. One of their demands was an end to 10-minute delivery.

The labour minister, Mansukh Mandaviya, met the companies. On January 13, 2026, Blinkit changed its line to “30,000+ products delivered at your doorstep.” Zepto, Swiggy Instamart and Flipkart Minutes also dropped the 10-minute branding, PTI reported.

Rest Is Forbidden

Aaram haram hai. Rest is forbidden. The slogan is associated with Jawaharlal Nehru. A column in Navbharat Live writes that Nehru gave it to the public with nation-building in mind. It inspired a song in the 1960 film Apna Ghar.

The attribution rests on later accounts. The sources give no speech and no date for it.

No Leave

In 2023 the Prime Minister’s Office answered a request under the Right to Information Act about Narendra Modi’s leave. “The Prime Minister is on duty all the time,” the reply said. “No leave has been availed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi since taking office.”

The request came from Prafful P. Sarda of Pune. Business Today reported the reply on September 4, 2023.

A Culture That Glorifies Overwork

On July 20, 2024, Anna Sebastian Perayil died. She was 26. She had joined EY in Pune as an executive in March of that year.

Her mother, Anita Augustine, wrote to the chairman of EY India. “Anna’s experience sheds light on a work culture that seems to glorify overwork,” she wrote.

Hardworking

Mehnati. Hardworking. The Rekhta dictionary defines it in Hindi as adhik ya poori mehnat karne wala, one who works hard or fully, and parishrami, industrious. Its English glosses include “hard-working,” “industrious” and “diligent.”

The same entry also gives mazdoor, a laborer.

The Night Shift

In 2004 the trade magazine Voice&Data described a basic fact of the call center business. Because of the time difference with the United States, “international call centers have to operate at night in India.” Staffing follows the calling patterns of American customers. The night shift brings its own costs, such as late-night transport, cafeterias and higher staff turnover.

In 2022 Telangana Today reported that major IT companies in Hyderabad pay a night shift allowance of 300 to 400 rupees a night.

Sundays at the Office

In October 2023 the Infosys co-founder N.R. Narayana Murthy said on a podcast: “My request is that our youngsters must say, ‘this is my country, I want to work 70 hours a week.'”

In January 2025 a video of S.N. Subrahmanyan, chairman of Larsen & Toubro, reached the public. He told employees he was sorry he could not make them work on Sundays. “How long can you stare at your wife?” he asked, Moneylife reported.

Business leaders, among them Harsh Goenka and Harsh Mariwala, criticized the remarks. L&T replied that “extraordinary outcomes require extraordinary effort.”