Punjab directs officers not to work from home

Chandigarh, May 21 (IANS) The Punjab government Wednesday directed all state government officers not to function from their camp office at their residences.

The directions were issued following instructions from Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal "in order to ensure responsive, transparent and accountable administration to the people", a spokesman said here.

"Badal took serious note over the 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," the spokesman said.

"He (Badal) strictly warned such officers to shun this undesirable practice and asked them 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," he said.

The chief minister also asked officers not to leave their headquarters without prior approval from the competent authority.