Nearly three-fourths of professionals prefer Work From Home option

Around 7 out of 10 working professionals prefer Work From Home (WFH) option.

Further, close to 80 per cent believe that WFH could ensure clean air, and 65 per cent of the respondents call on the Government to implement time bound plan to ensure environmentally harmful industries go pollution-free.

These were findings of an online survey conducted by Climate Trends, along with YouGov, with a sample size of 1,082 urban professional respondents from across 10 cities - Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Pune and Surat.

89 per cent are willing to encourage WFH if proper work infrastructure is in place, productivity is maintained and there is evidence of health benefits due to overall reduction in air pollution, according to the survey . Additionally, another 85 per cent also agree that WFH saved substantial man-hours by eliminating the commute time.

Navroz Dubash - Professor, Centre for Policy Research said: “Reduced business travel will be the norm for the short and medium term. WFH is a large global experiment currently underway- if we can nail it right, the benefits will be across several levels of our society from improved productivity, to improved family interactions and cleaner liveable cities.”

Aarti Khosla, Director of Climate Trends said, “The findings could provide an insight for policy makers on how to gradually open up the lockdown . The survey shows that citizens are willing to take greater responsibility in ensuring that they don’t end up crowding the streets. Government officials should pay heed to these emerging trends”.

The survey further pointed out that 90 per cent believe that air pollution impacts them personally. Nearly 1 in 2 respondents indicated that they suffer from air pollution related health problems like respiratory, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.

Further, about 62 per cent of the respondents would prefer to walk a shorter distance than take a bus while 37 per cent said they would use public transportation for short distances, the survey said.

Close to 49 per cent of the respondents said they would be willing to buy an electric vehicle provided the charging infrastructure is in place across the country and the prices are made affordable, according to the survey . The percentage in favour of electric vehicles increases in some cities such as Jaipur (62 per cent) and Delhi (56 per cent) where respondents said they would buy electric vehicles if infrastructure and price conditions are met.

About 65 per cent of the respondents believe that the Government should launch a time-bound transition program for environmentally damaging industries to go pollution free. Around 57 per cent respondents believe that the government needs to move from coal power stations and diesel generators to solar, wind and hydropower.