The central government has issued strict guidelines for employees to reach the office on time. This will be challenging for employees who arrive late to the office. The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) of the Center has decided to forgive a maximum delay of 15 minutes. The department has directed employees across the country to come to the office by 9.15 am and register their attendance. All employees, including senior officials, have been asked to use the biometric attendance system.
The main objective of this new guideline is to ensure discipline and punctuality in government offices. The government believes that reaching the office on time will improve the efficiency of the employees and the office environment will also remain disciplined. Employees have been warned that if they do not come to the office by 9.15 am, their half-day casual leave will be deducted.
The central government circular states that ‘for any reason, if the employee is unable to attend the office on a particular day, he should be informed in advance and apply for casual leave.’ It also states that the officers will monitor the attendance and punctuality of the employees in their sections.
Central government offices are open from 9 am to 5.30 pm, but it is common for junior-level employees to come late and leave early. This also includes employees engaged in public sector jobs, causing inconvenience to the people. At the same time, senior officials say that there are no fixed working hours for them, we also take work home.
Senior officials complain that they do not have any fixed office hours as they usually leave after 7 pm. Apart from this, they argue that with access to electronic files after COVID-19, they often work from home on holidays or weekends. Soon after coming to office in 2014, the Modi government demanded the implementation of office timings. This was opposed by employees, many of whom argued that they travel long distances.
