Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s appeal for Indians to adopt work-from-home practices wherever possible amid the ongoing West Asia conflict has triggered widespread discussion across social media and corporate India, with companies now reassessing remote and hybrid work arrangements.
Speaking at an event in Secunderabad, Telangana, on Sunday, PM Modi urged citizens to reduce petrol and diesel consumption, postpone foreign travel, and temporarily avoid gold purchases as part of efforts to lessen the economic impact of rising global tensions.
“In this time of global crisis, we have to make a resolution keeping duty paramount and fulfil it with complete dedication,” the Prime Minister said. “A big resolution is to use petrol and diesel sparingly. We must curb our use of petrol and diesel.”
Drawing comparisons to the Covid-19 pandemic period, Modi suggested that practices such as remote working, online meetings, and virtual conferences could once again play an important role in reducing fuel consumption linked to commuting and travel.
“During the Corona period, we developed many systems of work from home, online meetings, and video conferences, and we even became accustomed to them,” he said. “Today, the demands of the times are such that if we restart these systems, it will be in the national interest.”
The Prime Minister repeated the appeal during an event in Vadodara on Monday, encouraging both employees and employers to support work-from-home arrangements wherever feasible.
The remarks have generated mixed reactions online and within workplaces. While some employees welcomed the possibility of returning to flexible work patterns, others argued that remote work can affect productivity and collaboration.
The appeal has also raised questions about whether companies can be expected to return to pandemic-style work arrangements if the situation worsens and whether employers are obligated to allow remote work.
Following the Prime Minister’s remarks, several major companies and industry bodies indicated they were reviewing their work policies.
Nasscom, the apex body representing India’s IT industry, said many technology companies already operate under hybrid work models and are adjusting arrangements depending on operational requirements.
“The technology industry in India continues to operate on well-established hybrid work models, with organisations calibrating work-from-home and in-office arrangements based on role requirements and customer needs,” Nasscom said in a statement.
The organisation added that companies have implemented energy-saving measures amid the ongoing geopolitical tensions.
“In light of the ongoing West Asia tensions, companies have adopted prudent energy management measures across campuses, including optimising non-essential consumption, rationalising select facility services, and enabling remote or hybrid work where operationally appropriate to reduce overall energy usage and commuting,” the statement said.
Several major corporations have also begun reviewing their existing work structures.
A spokesperson for KPMG India told The Economic Times that the company was evaluating the Prime Minister’s announcement while considering employee welfare, business operations, and client commitments.
Reliance Industries and the Tata Group also said they were assessing the situation, while companies such as Deloitte, EY, RPG Group, Tata Motors, and Mercedes-Benz India stated that they would continue with their existing hybrid work models.
Zoho founder and CEO Sridhar Vembu publicly expressed support for the appeal, saying the company would reconsider its recent return-to-office policy.
“I hope all of us heed the prime minister’s appeal,” Vembu wrote on social media platform X. “As a company, we adopted work from office fully in recent months, but we will revisit work from home now.”
The Prime Minister also encouraged citizens to support local products and reduce dependence on imported goods as part of broader efforts to conserve foreign exchange during the ongoing global crisis.
