Punjab government employees and the public have slammed the Punjab government decision to observe office timings of 7am to 1pm in the public sector offices during the holy month of Ramadan, terming it a counter-productive measure which needs revision and have refused to show up.
It is the very first time in the administrative history of the Punjab that the government has decided to start offices so early whereas the federal government is following the timings of 8am to 2pm in all offices run by the federal government.
“As a matter of fact government offices do not close at 1pm sharp and the staffers have to sit with the bureaucrats who usually come late to the offices,” All Pakistan Clerks Association (APCA) Central President Muhammad Afzal said.
He said the government decision-makers were unaware of the ground realities, adding that Taraweeh prayer ends at around 10:30 pm and then one gets up for Sehri at 2am and it was difficult to leave so early for offices.
The APCA president maintained that the decision reflected the autocratic mindset of the bureaucracy which did not take any stakeholder into confidence while implementing the decision. He said it was regrettable that a democratically-elected government had introduced such a decision which was not even imposed by the dictatorial regimes, adding that the Zia regime had introduced office timings of 7:30 am in the past. Condemning Punjab government decision, the APCA president said the office timings should be revised to 8am to 2pm in the larger national and public interest. A deputy secretary in the Higher Education Department, on the condition of anonymity, said that the timings were a mere gimmick of the Punjab government for cheap popularity as well as to continue its stand-off with the federal government. He said it would be practically impossible for officers and staff to reach offices so early in the morning while they would leave offices by 12:30 pm to catch route buses back home. He said the decision may help the Punjab government to strengthen its image of a ‘rebel’ but it would not serve the cause of the employees and the public. The DS said the government appeared to be unaware of the fact that the real work starts by noon in the civil secretariat offices and they had to sit till dusk. Punjab Civil Secretariat Employees Association General Secretary Azeem Bari said the government had failed to take into consideration problems of all the employees while taking a decision on the office timings for the Ramadan.
He regretted the fact that the office-timing decision lacked uniformity as it was not implemented in the public sector colleges and universities by the Punjab government.
A security guard in the Punjab Civil Secretariat said that the BoP Secretariat Branch operated from 8:3am to 2pm but the secretariat employees had been asked to report by 7am, adding that it was discriminatory.
The Punjab government spokesperson said the decision had been implemented to improve efficiency and conserve energy during the holy month of Ramadan, adding that the decision had been taken after taking feedback from all stakeholders.
