Do top bureaucrats in the capital slink out for a leisurely lunch and a siesta on working days, thus affecting public work? That’s precisely what Congress MP Rama Chandra Khuntia wanted to know from Prithiraj Chavan, the minister of state in the Prime Minister’s Office, in an unstarred question.
Khuntia was keen to know if babus were absent from their offices from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. and strolled in lightly thereafter. Under normal circumstances, such queries would have been promptly dismissed with the stock reply, “Question does not arise”.
But Chavan took pains to explain that the government had received no such reports and explained how measures like making available information on websites, fixing time limits for disposal of cases and fine-tuning the delivery systems were being undertaken.
With the performance of each ministry currently being evaluated, the bureaucrats can have no such luxury of playing truant.
