In the recent news, Defense Minister Khawaja Asif has suggested reverting to a two-day weekend by restoring Saturday as a holiday for government offices and educational institutes. Taking to Twitter, the Minister, Khawaja Asif tweeted that under the prevailing circumstance, off days on Saturdays and Sundays and a half-day on Fridays could help the country save fuel and energy costs.
موجودہ حالات میں سارے مللک میں ہفتہ میں ھفتہ اتوار پور ی تعطیل اورجمعہ کےروز آدھادن یعنی ھفتہ میں 4.5دن کام ھو.کام کےدنوں میں ایک گھنٹہ دفاتر کا دورانیہ بڑھا دیا جاۓ.سڑکوں پہ ٹریفک کم ھو گی.تیل اور بجلی دونوں کی بچت ھو گی.کفایت شعار ی کے کلچر کو فروغ ملے گا.
— Khawaja M. Asif (@KhawajaMAsif) June 6, 2022
Khawaja Asif Proposes to Increase Working Hours to Save Fuel and Energy Costs
The minister further added that official working hours on weekdays should be increased by one hour as well. The move will further facilitate a culture of temperance in the country and also save fuel and energy costs. The proposal from the Defense Minister Khawaja Asif comes a week after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif rejected the summary for restoring Saturday as a holiday after severe backlash from government employees and students.
PM Shehbaz’s Order to End Two Weekly Holidays Was Greeted with Severe Backlash
During a cabinet session hosted last week, the premier instructed the relevant authorities to ensure Saturday is regarded as a working day in offices and schools. Soon after getting elected in April, PM Shehbaz ordered to end of two weekly holidays, stating that only Sunday will be observed as a holiday in federal government offices and educational institutes. The decision drew strong backlash from government employees and students who held protests to force the government to revert to a two-day weekend at the federal level.
A day earlier, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader had also noted that tweaking market hours to facilitate businesses to operate during the daytime could potentially help hold up to 3,500 megawatts of energy. His comments came after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif held an emergency meeting on June 4 and issued strict instructions to curtail frequent power outages.
Read more: PM Shehbaz Rejects the Proposal to Restore Saturday’s Public Holiday
