The revival of two-day weekend is good even if it will not help the government resolve the energy crisis. It is astonishing, however, that some people object to two holidays per week. Their arguments sound reasonable but that is just what they are, mere noise, to which you should turn a deaf ear. The only thing to worry about is how soon the government will revoke it.
The government is capricious and likely to change its mind without warning. In a panic reaction to the power riots in the Punjab, the federal cabinet approved a failed formula to resolve the energy crisis. This includes besides two off days per week, business closure at sunset and staggering of industrial holidays. It was a hasty decision taken without the approval of the provinces or trade and industry representatives. As such the formula is doomed to failure.
The two-day weekend should be taken out of the formula and be made a permanent decision. Otherwise, when the formula fails we will be back to a six-day weekly slog. The cynics argue that two holidays per week is bad because one work day is lost and that leads to financial loss and a slowdown in production. They say a two-day weekend is a luxury our poor country can ill afford.
The arguments for or against two-day weekend by the government or the cynics is unrealistic in Pakistani terms. As one measure for power conservation it did not work in the past. To say the two-day weekend will contribute to our worsening economy and that we ought to either have a seven-day work week or only one holiday per week is a silly argument. Consider the number of working days lost due to strikes, riots and five to fifteen hours load shedding or power failure. These are the reasons why the country is in dire economic straits.
There should be a two-day holiday for all working people including the domestic staff. I have introduced this at home and find the housemaid does not take extra holiday as she used to do when she had just one weekly off. The reason is that she did need an extra holiday to attend to some family need, such as taking a child to the doctor or shopping.
Now she plans to do these things on the extra holiday she gets. In case she is absent a third day, which is rare, it is always due to an emergency. In that case she will make up the lost workday by dropping one holiday. It has made her a sensible organiser of her time as well as a responsible worker. And both of us are happy with the arrangement.
Office-going middle-class is also happy to have two holidays per week for the same reason as the housemaid. There are several chores one has to attend at home and in a one day holiday there is no time left to enjoy rest and recreation. The single holiday becomes another working day in the house. Office work also suffers because the worker is not refreshed by the holiday.
There are so many things that cannot be done on a Sunday. Banks are closed, utility bills cannot be paid, markets and shopping malls are closed, clinics are closed, medical staff is skeletal in the hospitals. A person has to skip a work day to attend to such things.
Of course, a two-day weekend means all the above facilities will be closed on Sunday and Saturday. It would be sensible to give banks, clinics, market centres their off on Sunday and Monday. In other words, the two-day weekend should be a workable solution to suit everyone's needs. Making Saturday and Sunday off for everyone is not a sensible measure.
Two-day weekend is not a luxury. Modern psychology shows that it has a civilising effect because it is more relaxing and people have time to indulge in recreational activities instead of spending their single-day free time doing household chores which can be irritating. Children are rebuffed if they want to go to the zoo or the park because parents do not have the time on most weekends. The visit to zoos and parks becomes an occasional recreation when it ought to be a regular feature. Barbers and beauty saloons stay open on Sundays as this is the day their clients need their service most. They take a weekly off on Mondays. So if one type of Profession can be adjusted to the demands of their clientele so can other shops and services.
As a measure for conserving energy the two-day weekend is not a suitable measure. This was evident last time the measure was introduced so why is the government relying on this particular measure? It shows a lack of vision. For the cause of the massive power shortage and the equally massive power outages the government has only made excuses. It continues to blame electricity theft as a major cause for shortage in Karachi, but has never introduced any measures to control or eradicate power theft. If officer-status inspectors go about with KESC workers to pinpoint where power is being stolen and then holds the workers responsible for the removal of kundas the theft will surely end. Everyone knows the KESC workers are in cahoots with power thieves, but when their job is at stake they will stop power piracy. This of course requires the officer class at KESC to get out of their air-condition office and get to know the exact location of the problem as well to identify the actual of KESC workers in the area they inspect. KESC, like the government, does not have a single working solution to power conservation or power theft.