CPIML MP Raja Ram Singh on Friday wrote to Union labour minister Mansukh Mandaviya expressing concern over recent statements from prominent industry leaders advocating extended work hours, including proposals to violate the legally mandated eight-hour workday limit for workers.

Singh, a member of the standing committee on labour, textiles and skill development, has asked for strict enforcement of the laws governing duty hours and six-day work weeks for workers.

His letter to Mandaviya comes a day after Larsen and Toubro chairman and managing director S.N. Subhrahmanyan’s comment that employees should put in 90 hours a week and suggestion that they work even on Sundays.

The CPIML MP from Karakat in Bihar argued that it is a fact that longer working hours reduced productivity instead of increasing it and were detrimental to a worker’s health.

“It is imperative for the government to take cognisance of these issues and initiate measures to ensure strict enforcement of laws governing working hours and steps are taken to ensure that workers are not compelled to work beyond the legally mandated limit of 48 hours per week,” Singh urged Mandaviya in his letter.

The Lok Sabha member’s letter comes amid a backlash across the country against Subrahmanyan’s statements.

Subrahmanyan said in a video message to his employees: “What do you do sitting at home? How long can you stare at your wife? How long can wives stare at their husbands? Go to the office and start working.”

The chairman followed it up with: “Honestly, I am sorry that I am not able to make you work on Sundays. I will be happier if I can make you work on Sundays, because I work on Sundays too.”

In his letter, Singh said that Infosys co-founder N.R. Narayana Murthy, too, had said that young Indians should work up to 70 hours a week to increase productivity and the country’s competitiveness.

“Other business titans like Bhavish Aggarwal of Ola, Sajjan Jindal of Jindal Steel Works also publicly supported the proposal for a 70-hour work week. It is important to note that not only does working longer hours not ensure increased productivity but in fact reduces productivity,” Singh wrote.