KABUL: If there is one capitalist reality that Afghans have learned in these days of peace after more than two decades of communism and chaos, it’s that there is no such thing as a free lunch.

That’s why there was little grousing Sunday when the government summarily extended the official workday from five hours to eight. The longer day includes a paid lunch hour, putting more money in every employee’s pocket.

With workloads increasing daily as the wheels of state creak back into motion, the 600,000 Afghans restored to the government payroll since December appear to be taking in stride what constitutes a 40 percent increase in their working hours for a 55-cent daily wage increase.

For workers whose monthly earnings average about $33, the extra 55 cents will be a princely sum.

“I’m happy about the extra pay, so if it means I have to work longer, so be it,” said Gul Jan, a 35-year-old clerk at Kabul’s city-government headquarters whose monthly income is jumping from $29 to $46.

The lengthened workday was decreed on Thursday, the last day of the workweek in Islamic countries, catching many government employees by surprise. Only those with access to television or radio learned over the weekend that the day now runs from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., instead of 1 p.m.

“It’s clear to the whole world that we have a lot to do to lift ourselves out of this mess,” said Fazil Ahmed Zakeri, deputy minister for social affairs. “By restoring a normal workday, we should be able to boost productivity and get on with the business of rebuilding the country.”

While such an edict might foment a labour revolution in many parts of the world, Afghans who work for the state remain conscious of the disorder and poverty still afflicting much of their homeland. Most regard the new workday as an economic necessity and a patriotic duty.

“We were way behind in our record-keeping after the Taliban destroyed everything, and we weren’t able to get everything done in just five hours a day,” said Abdul Saboor, manager of the payroll accounting department for the Kabul municipal government. “We were always hurrying in our work, which led to mistakes, so now that we have afternoons as well, we should be able to work more efficiently.”

Like many of his colleagues, Saboor considers the extra 55 cents, technically called a lunch stipend, poor recompense for having to stay in the office until 4 p.m. He pointed out that the extra income will be nullified by higher costs for commuting home at rush hour, when taxis and private buses charge steeper fares. But he views the extension as a burden that each worker must shoulder without complaint.

“The interim government would pay us more if it had the money, but it doesn’t,” Saboor said. “We all have to do our part.”

The hardship of a longer workday will fall disproportionately on employed women, who continue to shoulder the entire domestic load in this patriarchal society. Most married female office workers must clean the house and cook the evening meal once they get home, even if their husbands are jobless. Those with working spouses also face complications. —Dawn/LAT-WP News Service (c) Los Angeles Times