The Karnataka State IT/ITeS Employees Union (KITU) on Saturday staged a demonstration at Bengaluru's Freedom Park to protest against the controversial proposal to increase working hours in the IT and BPO sectors, the Moneycontrol reported.
The controversial proposal aims to extend daily work hours in the IT sector from a maximum of 10 hours to 14 hours.
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During the protest, the Additional Commissioner of the Labour Department, Manjunath G, spoke to reporters and assured that the concerns of the demonstrators would be reviewed by the government after receiving their petition opposing the bill.
This comes after the Karnataka state cabinet recently shelved its controversial proposal to extend daily work hours in the IT sector from a maximum of 10 hours to 14 hours. The decision came amid significant pushback from industry leaders and associations.
The proposed changes would have allowed IT and BPO firms to extend daily working hours beyond this limit, up to a total of 125 hours over a three-month period. The government argued that this change aims to boost the state's share of Global Capability Centres (GCCs) in India from 45 percent to 50 percent, as stated in documents accessed by the publication.
The KITU has been actively opposing the plan. It's representatives warn that extending working hours might lead companies to switch from a three-shift system to a two-shift system, which could result in job losses for about one-third of the workforce.
In the midst of the protest, tensions flared when members of another IT employee union arrived with their own banner, leading to a brief altercation. Police intervened to diffuse the situation, escorting three individuals away from the scene to restore order, the report noted.
Yamini CS is a Senior Content Producer at Hindustan Times with nearly six years of experience in digital journalism. She is part of the India News desk, where she works on a wide range of stories cutting across civic issues, city-based developments, politics, governance, public policy, breaking news, trending topics, and international affairs that have an impact on India. Her role involves tracking fast-moving developments, verifying information from official and on-ground sources, and presenting news in a clear, accessible format for a digital-first audience. A significant part of her work includes handling live blogs during major news events, such as elections, court verdicts, political developments, civic disruptions, protests, weather-related alerts, and unfolding national or international incidents. Through live coverage, she focuses on timely updates to help readers follow complex stories as they evolve. Before moving to the broader India News desk, Yamini was associated with the Bengaluru desk at Hindustan Times, where she extensively covered urban governance, infrastructure, traffic and transport issues, weather events, public grievances, and civic administration in the city. This experience strengthened her grounding in city reporting and sharpened her focus on citizen-centric journalism. She began her career as a correspondent with Reuters after completing a postgraduate diploma in journalism from the Indian Institute of Journalism and New Media. Her early training instilled a strong emphasis on accuracy, sourcing, and news ethics, which continue to shape her reporting style. Outside of work, Yamini enjoys reading across genres, listening to music, and spending time with her family, which help her maintain balance in a fast-paced newsroom environment.
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