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Bengaluru: Resisting the Karnataka government’s proposed increase in the working hours of IT employees, the Karnataka State IT/ITeS Employees Union (KITU) will organise a protest at Freedom Park on Saturday.
The protest comes after KITU's two-week campaign, which included gate campaigns at IT parks and street demonstrations. The government’s proposed Karnataka Shops and Commercial Establishments (Amendment) Bill aims to normalise 14-hour workdays.
KITU General Secretary Suhas Adiga announced that over 300 IT, ITeS and BPO workers will join the protest at 2 pm.
Adiga condemned the proposal as “inhuman”, arguing that it undermines basic employee rights. “This amendment will shift companies to a two-shift system from the current three-shift one, potentially displacing one-third of the workforce,” he said.
Citing studies from the World Health Organization and the International Labour Organization, he warned that longer working hours could increase the risk of death by stroke by 35 per cent and from ischemic heart disease by 17 per cent.
Karnataka Labour Minister Santosh Lad stated that the government is under pressure from industries to approve the proposal.