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Nagaon, July 16: The deputy commissioner of Morigaon, Apurba Phukan, today locked the chambers of three latecomers in a rare show of acting tough against truant government officers, reviving memories of the Emergency, when the officials were kept on a tight leash by the Indira Gandhi government.
When sub-divisional officers Alaka Goswami and Krishna Borua and district treasury officer Madhab Malakar reached their workplace late, they were in for a surprise. They found their offices, sharing the campus with that of Phukan, locked.
Later, they were told to take casual leave for the day.
Septuagenarian Monoram Saikia, who was at the DC’s office at the time of the incident recalled that such stern measures were taken during the days of the Emergency to ensure discipline in government offices. Sources in the administration said Phukan had called the three officers for an “urgent administrative discussion” at his office chamber around 10.10am but none of them arrived on time.
“When the DC sent one of his staff to call the officials, none of them was present at his or her chamber,” the source said. An angry Phukan immediately instructed his staff to lock up their offices.
He later collected the attendance registers of the three officers. When the three officers reported for work, they found the register missing. On approaching Phukan, they were asked to take casual leave for the day. “All three were found absent till 10.30am while our office starts at 10. I ordered their rooms to be locked up as they were not in their chairs during office hours,” Phukan told this correspondent over phone.
A source in the Morigaon treasury office said: “Everything took place within a very short time. When our officer was found absent, a staff sent by the deputy commissioner rushed to his room and locked it up. Even the computer inside the room remained switched on.”
Sub-divisional officer Krishna Borua defended her delayed arrival saying, “It was very hot this morning. I reached office around 10.15 only to find my room locked.”
Alaka Goswami, however, was unapologetic. “I had anyway planned to take leave for the day on personal grounds. It is not a serious matter, I think.”
Saikia said: “The deputy commissioner has done the right thing...I have been coming here for so many days for a trivial work but have to return empty-handed as the employees either work at a snail’s pace or are not present,” he said over phone. His nephew Ranjan Saikia said the DC had set an example which others must emulate.
During the 21-month Emergency period beginning June 25, 1975 civil liberties were curtailed and the usually laid back babus were forced to reach office on time.