No order to extend working hours of govt employees: Assam CM

Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal today said the government has not issued any order asking officials and employees have to work beyond office hours, contrary to certain media reports.
In a statement here, the Chief Minister refuted media reports which suggested that government officials and employees have to work beyond office hours and clarified that no official order has been issued to this effect.
"News report in a section of the media that government employees have to work beyond office hours is false and baseless. I have only appealed to the employees to work with more sincerity and commitment," Sonowal said.

Exhorting the employees to improve upon the work culture, Sonowal said he had appealed to the employees to work with more devotion, dedication and determination "as people have high expectations on our new dispensation and gave the massive mandate to usher in overall change."
Meanwhile, the state General Administration Department in a press release said "normal working hours for the offices under the government of Assam are 10 am to 5 pm for the months from March to September and from 10 am to 4.15 pm from October to February".
"These timings are made effective by way of notifications issued by the government from time to time. There has been no change in the above mentioned timings," the release said.

"Recently while reviewing the functioning of different departments, the chief minister had appealed to the senior officers of the government of Assam to work hard and to ensure zero-pendency of files and papers so that the general public did not suffer due to the pendency of files or papers in government offices", it said.
"The chief minister had appealed to the senior officers to set an example of public service by working at least 10 hours every day on voluntary basis. It is clarified that the official timings in the government offices have not been changed and they continue to be as mentioned above," the release added.