DEHRADUN: A peculiar office order issued by an Executive Engineer of the National Highway (NH) section of the Public Works Department (PWD) in Lohaghat, Uttarakhand, has gone viral on social media, causing a significant stir within the department.
The controversial directive, which explicitly suggested seeking 'divine help' to locate a lost service book, has prompted the Head of Department to seek an explanation from the engineer.
The unusual situation arose after the service book belonging to a departmental Assistant Engineer went missing from an office cupboard. Despite extensive searching, the document could not be traced. The matter was then brought to the attention of Executive Engineer Ashutosh Kumar.
In a bizarre written order, issued on Friday, Kumar outlined a plan that deviated sharply from standard administrative procedures.
The order stated that the service book of Assistant Engineer Jay Prakash had been lost from the cupboard of the Establishment Assistant, noting that the Assistant Engineer was "mentally very worried" due to the loss.
The directive then suggested a rather unconventional solution: "In the absence of finding the service book," the order read, "the idea came, why shouldn't all officers and employees of the office, based on divine faith, ask for two handfuls of rice from their respective homes and deposit them in a temple, and the deity will deliver justice."
In his order, Executive Engineer Kumar also specified a time for staff to deposit rice at the office on Saturday.
Upon the letter going viral on social media, the PWD headquarters took swift cognisance of the matter.
PWD Head of Department Rajesh Chandra Sharma sought an immediate clarification from Executive Engineer Ashutosh Kumar regarding the issued order.
Sharma stated that the order issued by the EE was a "violation of employee conduct rules." His notice reportedly demanded that the EE explain "with what objective the said office order issued in the style of government functioning, based on divine faith," and requested that the explanation be provided within three days.
Notably, in many rural and urban areas of Uttarakhand, the practice of diagnosing a person's problems and finding solutions using grains of rice ('chawal vidya') is quite prevalent even today.
A Pandit proficient in this practice, speaking to TNIE on condition of anonymity, confirmed its local use. "Until a few years ago," the Pandit revealed, "several police sub-inspectors and station house officers would also seek help from this rice-based method for investigation in criminal cases."