It was just another morning at the ministry of information and broadcasting in Shastri Bhawan. Or so thought many of the ministry's officials – when they casually strolled into office fashionably late on Monday. But they were in for a shock.
Their new boss, I&B minister Prakash Javadekar, had taken a morning round of the ministry and the Press Information Bureau (PIB) at 9.15am. He later told reporters that he found that about 200 officials of the rank of section officer and below had not reported to work by then. The minister was not pleased, and when the officials walked in, they learnt they were in for a tough time.
"I took photographs of every room and left a message that I would like to meet them. When they came, I told them that they should take casual leave for the day as they did not report to work on time. As it the first day of my round, I decided not to take any action against anyone," Javadekar said.
Those who had to take casual leave did not go back home and worked like a normal working day. They also assured the minister that they would report to work on time from Tuesday onwards.
The minister also announced that biometric attendance system will be installed for the officials of the I&B ministry to ensure that officials report for work on time. Many other ministries such as home and planning have already installed biometric attendance system for officials.
After the minister's inspection, secretary, I&B, Bimal Jhulka also spoke to senior officials to emphasise on the need for punctuality among the staff. A circular was also issued to officials in this regard, the sources said.
Javadekar's surprise visit comes in the wake of a clear message from the PMO to the bureaucracy to step up its performance. Other ministers too have been known to take meetings at 9am as a way to generate pressure on staffers to be punctual. For the I&B officials who thought achhe din meant remaining slackers, Javadekar's visit would be a wake up call.
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