Jakarta. Indonesia is considering implementing a “work from anywhere” (WFA) policy ahead of Eid holidays in the world’s largest Muslim-majority country.

Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the month-long fasting of Ramadan, will fall on March 31 this year. Eid is also synonymous with massive exodus in the country as many Indonesians usually return to their hometowns to celebrate the big day. Government estimates showed that 193 million people traveled during last year’s Eid holidays.

Transportation Minister Dudy Purwagandhi recently floated a plan to impose a WFA policy so people could travel to their hometowns much earlier, thus potentially easing the traffic. Indah Anggoro Putri, a senior official at the Manpower Ministry, recently commented on the plan.

“[The WFA policy] is still a proposal so people could avoid the exodus traffic. It is a great idea so we can ease the congestion,” Indah said in Jakarta on Tuesday, as reported by the state news agency Antara.

Even so, the government would still engage in talks with business organizations and labor unions next week before proceeding with such a plan.

“A long holiday is set to have an impact. So we have to understand the production process. We must make sure that the policy would not disrupt the industry,” Indah said.

Just last week, Chief Economic Affairs Minister Airlangga Hartarto revealed that the government was also considering giving an airfare discount for the Eid holiday just like they did during the Christmas season. However, Airlangga said that the government was still discussing the discount rate for the upcoming Eid holiday. Last Christmas, Indonesians enjoyed a 10-percent discount for domestic flights.

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