Over a fortnight after Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal issued separate instructions to abstain officers for functioning from their camp offices at residences, and to check their overstay in official accommodations, the Punjab Government on Friday re-issued the same notifications.
Badal, peeved by the way the bureaucrats are functioning and considering the complaints by the general public that eventually reflected in the results of the recently-concluded lok Sabha elections, had issued several instructions to the officials on May 21 and later to tighten the noose around them.A notification, instructing all government officers not to function from their camp office at their residences in order “to ensure responsive, transparent and accountable administration to the people”, has been issued.
The directions come after it has noticed that there is a growing tendency amongst several officers to operate from the camp office at their residences due to which the people coming from far-off places had to face a lot of inconvenience and hardship to get their work done in the government offices.“Such officers have been strictly warned to shun this un-desirable practice and have been asked to function from their offices from 9 am to 5 pm on all working days to ensure prompt and hassle free delivery of services to the general public,” stated the government spokesperson.
He said that the officers are asked not to leave their headquarters, in any case, without the prior approval from the competent authority, as it was unlawful and gross violation of government instructions.Officers have been asked to discharge their duties with utmost dedication, honesty and professional commitment in the public interest and maintain decorum and punctuality in offices, he added.
In another notification, the state Punjab has issued strict instructions to all the government employees to “vacate” the official accommodation in time or face action for non-compliance.The directions have been issued keeping in view the judgment passed by the Supreme Court, and the directives to the state government to ensure strict compliance of the orders in this regard.
“Several officers or officials overstayed in the official accommodation allotted to them even after the lapse of their eligibility. In accordance with these instructions, rules and orders of the Apex Court, any allottee, who failed to vacate official accommodation within stipulated time period in any case, would be liable for non-disbursement of his salary besides deduction of penal rent from it,” stated the spokesperson.