Covid-19: How a 12-hour shift for labourers will impact their lives?

Four states are allowing a 72-hour work-week due to the Covid-19 pandemic, a move that comes with serious implications for India's factory workforce.

On April 15, the Ministry of Home Affairs issued a detailed notification outlining the conditions under which economic activities could be restarted in non-containment zones.

The order imposed a string of mandatory do’s and don’ts such as social distancing, the arrangement of private transportation for workers and medical insurance. The violation of any of these directives, the order noted, could attract severe penalties including imprisonment under the National Disaster Management Act, 2005 (NDMA).

Two days before that, on April 13, India’s central trade unions (CTUs) sent a letter to the Union labour minister that expressed their opposition to a proposal