Madras High Court seeks state reply on plea for uniform two-day weekly off
The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Monday sought a response from the Tamil Nadu government to a public interest litigation (PIL) petition demanding a uniform policy that guarantees a mandatory two-day weekly off for all categories of workers in both the public and private sectors across the state.
A Division Bench comprising Justices C.V. Karthikeyan and R. Sakthivel was hearing the petition filed by S. Bhaskar, a resident of Batlagundu in Dindigul district. The petitioner argued that compelling lakhs of employees in the public and private sectors to work six days a week infringes upon their fundamental rights and adversely affects their health.
According to the petitioner, government employees enjoy a structured five-day work week with a mandatory two-day weekly off, whereas lakhs of private sector workers are often required to work six days a week, frequently exceeding 10 to 12 hours per day. This, he contended, leads to severe physical and mental burnout.
The petitioner further stated that he has scientifically analysed and designed a 'Rotational Labour Sharing Model' that would create a structural workforce. He sought a direction to the state government to constitute a High-Level Expert Committee comprising industrial, finance, and management experts to examine the feasibility of this model. He also requested the authorities to launch a pilot project implementing the mandatory two-day rotational weekly off in major industrial hubs.
The court has posted the matter for further hearing to October 7.
