Babus can come to office a little late but can't go early
Babus , by habit, come late to office, but they are never late twice in the day. Those who come late in the morning are usually the earliest to leave in the evening. You go at 9.30 am to any government office and you find most of them empty.
All this is going to change – at least in PC's Home Ministry. He has introduced a biometric identification system to ensure punctuality among the staff. "I hope that people absorb the spirit and the purpose behind which this system has been introduced. But this is a message to the whole country that everybody must do his work for the allotted time", said the Home Minister.
Perhaps this will be introduced in other departments soon.
But are they serious about it?
The Home Ministry issued a clarification yesterday,
A working day consists of 8 hours (9 a.m. to 5.30 p.m with half an hour lunch break in MHA ) and all officers/officials are expected to work for this minimum period. The purpose of introducing the system is to regulate this aspect, i.e. 8 hours of work in a day and 40 hours in a week. It is noted that some persons may get delayed due to transport/traffic problem or some other reasons. Such late arrivals within a reasonable period of 15-25 minutes will be acceptable subject to their adjusting their working hours upto 8 hours by delayed departure.
The Voice Of America reported yesterday,
India's bureaucrats have long had a reputation for not sticking to time - but old habits may have to change. Biometric scanners have been installed in an effort to promote punctuality at the offices of the Home Ministry.
However sociologists point out that it is not fair to blame just bureaucrats for slack time keeping. Punctuality is not an Indian virtue - whether at the official or social level. It is quite common for trains to run behind time, or for people to turn up late for official meetings. Guests seldom worry if they are hours late for lunch and dinner invitations, and marriage parties are often inordinately delayed.
Among the pieces of advice commonly handed out to foreign businessmen heading to India is not to pack too many appointments in a day, because several could run late.