Government Officials Work as Usual on Sunday

12 October 2009

People hardly approached the government departments in the deputy commissioner’s office despite the fact that these departments functioned as usual on Sunday too. In the absence of visitors, officials cleared pending files, played Sudoku, socialized, and read newspapers and magazines. 

The government departments functioned as usual because of a government order that obliged them to work on October 10 and 11 as part of the flood activities. 

Members of the staff worked hard on Sunday, feeding data into computers and clearing pending files. Some officials said that, since they worked most Sundays, this Sunday was no exception for them. Moreover, the head of the unit worked daily till 9 p.m. 

Many employees resented being made to work as usual on Sunday, especially when they were not allotted any flood-related work. Women employees in particular complained that their weekly domestic chores such as washing clothes and shopping were left pending. 

Deputy Tahsildar K. Vamana said that only 8 of the 65 staff members had applied for casual leave. All the others had turned up for work as usual. 

An advocate, one of the few to approach the offices on Sunday, said that giving the officials a visitor-free day to clear their pending files is a good idea.