IT employees’ union urges Union government to issue WFH advisory after PM’s call

IT industry body Nascent Information Technology Employees Senate (NITES) has called on the Ministry of Labour and Employment to issue an advisory mandating work-from-home provisions for IT employees. This follows Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent appeal to adopt remote work practices to help conserve fuel.

In a letter to Union Labour and Employment Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, NITES requested that companies in digitally deliverable sectors be allowed to implement WFH “whenever operationally feasible” for a temporary period. The employee body argued that such a measure would help curb unnecessary travel, cut fuel usage, and ease urban traffic congestion.

The demand follows the Prime Minister’s recent address in Hyderabad, where he urged organisations to revive certain COVID-era practices, such as remote work, virtual meetings, and greater use of public transport, to support national energy conservation efforts. He also appealed to citizens to avoid non-essential travel, postpone non-urgent gold purchases, reduce reliance on foreign goods, and adopt indigenous products.

NITES said the IT industry had already demonstrated during the pandemic that remote work is “possible, feasible, and sustainable” without impacting productivity or global project delivery. The organisation also highlighted the burden of long commutes in major cities, noting that daily travel contributes not only to fuel wastage but also to physical and mental stress among employees.

NITES president Harpreet Singh Saluja said the proposal should be viewed not as a confrontation with employers but as an act of “collective national cooperation,” arguing that remote work must be treated as a national necessity rather than an employee convenience.

Meanwhile, The Forum for IT Employees (FITE) also weighed in, posting on X that advisories aimed at individuals are insufficient: “Employees do not have the authority to decide WFH policies, companies do. A clear directive is needed to make this effective.”