Karnataka Government orders salary cut to rein in latecomers

The government employees coming late for work would face salary cuts and stern action, the Karnataka Cabinet decided on Wednesday.

The government employees coming late for work would face salary cuts and stern action, the Karnataka Cabinet decided on Wednesday.

Briefing reporters after a Cabinet meeting here, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister T B Jayachandra said: “Our government has completed six months and it is high time we tightened the screws. Even after the introduction of a biometric attendance system in many offices, government staff continue come late,” he rued.

“Our surprise checks have revealed that as many as 1,700 employees are late to work every week. This is hampering the functioning of government departments,” Jayachandra explained.

The Union Government has implemented reforms to enforce discipline and the state would follow the same guidelines, he added.

A committee headed by former minister Haranahalli Ramaswamy had submitted a detailed report on administrative reforms and the previous BJP Government had implemented some of them.

Subsequently, another committee was constituted under Jayachandra. It recommended that the ministers stay in Bangalore at least three days a week to clear pending files and meet citizens.

Secretary-level officials would sit once a week to look into the number of files received and cleared in the preceding month, Jayachandra said. Files pertaining to the cooperation, rural development and panchayat raj and urban development departments would be monitored by Rural Development Minister H K Patil.

Similarly, those pertaining to the revenue, agriculture and horticulture departments would be monitored by Jayachandra.

Higher Education Minister R V Deshpande would keep an eye on files pertaining to the social sector, while Home Minister K J George, Industries Minister S R Patil and Public Works Minister Mahadevappa would monitor files relating to departments under their portfolios.

“Secretaries clear only one file a week. If a minister asks for a file, it takes at least a week to reach him as it has to pass through five or six officers,” Jayachandra said.

“Now we are giving an impetus for clearance of files. All files received  between April 1 and October 30, pending before ministers and secretaries, will be cleared soon,” he said.

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