As West Asia war impact escalates, PM Modi asks citizens to work from home, conserve fuel, avoid buying gold, foreign tourism, destination wedding, & use of chemical fertilisers
2nd time in 24 hours, restated the comments:
"Both govt and private offices should encourage work from home.
Arrangements for online classes should be considered for some time."
- PM Modi in Vadodara
Appealing for Work From Home (WFH) won’t change anything. If the govt genuinely wants it, it can strongly push or effectively enforce WFH in sectors where physical presence isn’t essential.
It’s common in the West but not in India because Indian companies still operate on a “presence equals productivity” mindset, where managers feel employees work seriously only when they are physically visible. If an employee isn’t exhausted by traffic, long hours, and physical attendance, they assume no real work is being done. There’s also a deeply ingrained feudal mindset where control, surveillance, and making juniors “feel the grind” is treated as management instead of actual productivity.
Otherwise, WFH can solve many problems for both individuals and the country. It reduces traffic, pollution, fuel consumption, stress, travel time, road accidents, and daily expenses for individuals while improving work-life balance. For India, it cuts crude oil consumption and import bills, reduces pressure on dollars, inflation, and urban infrastructure, while easing overcrowding in metro cities and saving huge amounts of productive time otherwise wasted in commuting.