El Nino: Telangana workers seek five-day work week

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Telangana government employees have reiterated their demand to introduce a five-day working week as the state government fights hard to mitigate the adverse impact of the El Nino phenomenon.

They said the introduction of a five-day working week can save water, energy, reduce road pollution and increase employee efficiency. Furthermore, there will be no burden on the Treasury with a decision that actually benefits it. In a statement submitted to Chief Secretary Sanjay Jaju, the staff suggested that office hours should be between 10am and 5.30pm, seven and a half hours a day.

This was compared to the current working hours of 6.30 hours between 10.30am and 5pm over six days for a total of 39 hours per week and staff may be asked to work one hour per week which would benefit the government. This will be at par with the central government department/institution.

The Joint Action Committee of Telangana Employees, Officials, Teachers, Workers and Pensioners, which submitted the statement, recalled that Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy had also appealed to people to conserve water, power and fuel/petroleum and implement energy saving measures. The central government has also taken various steps in this regard to reduce dependence on imported oil and increase the use of sustainable public transport by government employees.

Accordingly, the Joint Action Committee requested the Chief Secretary to inform the Chief Minister about the need to introduce five working days in a week to help save water, power and fuel and also increase the efficiency of the staff.

Published – 01 Nov 2026 16:14 IST