Nirmala Sitharaman brings ‘New Josh’, ministry serves punctuality memo

Modi 3.0 govt serves memo barrage to bureaucracy

By Manish Anand

New Delhi, June 29: Department of Revenue in the Ministry of Finance has issued an official memo to officials for late coming to their respective offices. The memo has been served to offices all across the country.

The Department of Revenue issued the memorandum to the officials and staffers for coming to their offices late. It has been learnt that other ministries in the Central government are also enforcing attendance punctuality in offices.

“It has been noted that the employees of this Department, as per list annexed, have repeatedly reported offices after 9.45 AM,” a memorandum issued by the Department of Revenue on June 26 stated.

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Sources in the government said that similar steps have been taken by other ministries this week to enforce punctuality in offices. “The government wants you to report to offices by 9.15 AM, and leave for home when the work ends, which could even be quite late in the evening,” said a senior ranking official in the Central government.

The memorandum issued by Department of Revenue of Ministry of Finance sought written explanations from the employees for coming late to their respective offices.

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“The concerns officers/officials are hereby directed to submit their explanation/ justification on their late coming and not adhering punctuality and why disciplinary action should not be taken against them as per rule,” added the memorandum.

It cited the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) office manual date June 15 this year and subsequent officials instructions circulated as backdrop for the issuance of the memorandum to take actions against the late comers.

While giving a deadline for submitting explanations to the officials, the memo warned that the lack of reply will mean the employees have “nothing to say and necessary action will be taken against them without intimation”.

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The officials are anguished at the tone and tenor of the memo served to them. A few of them linked to the flurry of memos being issued to the perception that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) “got lesser votes in the postal ballots, which are generally associated with the government employees”.

The BJP-led government at the Centre with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the helm in last 10 years has taken a number of measures in the name of improving the efficiency of the bureaucracy.

Through lateral entry, the government brought private sector professionals at Director and Joint Secretary ranks on contractual terms. Besides, a number of officials were retired before time or their services were terminated.

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About The Author

Manish Anand

Manish Anand is a senior journalist with more than two decades of hardcore reporting on beats such as Prime Minister’s Office, Parliament, BJP, Congress, Planning Commission, NITI Aayog, and scores of Union Ministries.

His past has been with The New Indian Express, The Asian Age/Deccan Chronicle, and The Statesman.

For about 15 years, Manish was also a regular commentator and host for talks on AIR on foreign affairs.

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