5-day working week extended by one year

Amaravati: The government on Thursday extended the five-day working week for a further period of one year, till June 27, 2023. Chief secretary Sameer Sharma issued an order to this effect on the representation submitted by the AP Secretariat Association. The five-day week would be applicable to employees of AP Secretariat, Heads of Departments and state-owned corporations, with working hours from 10 am to 5.30 pm.

The previous Chandrababu Naidu government introduced the five-day week in June 2016 following the relocation of offices from Hyderabad to AP's new capital Amaravati. That was being extended every year as the new capital has not fully developed and the employees could not settle in.

There was uncertainty this year on whether or not the government would extend the five-day week as relevant order was not issued even after the lapse of the one-year period. But finally, the extension order was issued with a three-day delay. Meanwhile, confusion prevailed among the government employees as the General Administration Department (GAD) issued a note on Wednesday asking them to vacate by June 30 the flats allotted to them as transit accommodation. Since 2016, when they first moved in from Hyderabad, the state government leased private flats at various locations and provided them as free transit accommodation to men and women employees.

In April this year, the GAD extended the free accommodation by two months only. On Wednesday, GAD special chief secretary K Praveen Kumar issued an official note asking the employees to vacate the accommodation "in good condition", failing which the employees concerned would be liable for damages. In the eleventh hour, however, the Chief Minister's office intervened and issued another note saying the free transit accommodation would be extended till August 31.