'No work, no pay' for Nagaland govt staffers skipping office

The Nagaland government has ordered strict implementation of the 'no work, no pay' policy for state government employees who are yet to join office even a fortnight after the festive holidays concluded.

Chief Secretary Temjen Toy, while addressing the first meeting of the year of the heads of the departments and the directorates, said many senior staffers were not attending office even two weeks after resumption of work.

The state government had marked December 23, 2019 to January 2 as festive holidays for all government offices on the accounts of Christmas and New Year.

"The responsibility lies with senior officers and unless we discipline ourselves, we cannot expect our subordinates to be regular and punctual.

"Attending office seems to have become optional. How can we serve people with this kind of attitude?" he said.

Toy ordered strict maintenance of casual leave accounts in all offices, from the secretariat to the district and sub-divisional offices.

"Government servants think we are on a higher pedestal and that we are above shouldering responsibilities which have been entrusted on us," he said.

Toy wondered whether senior officers have any moral authority to impose discipline on subordinate officers and staff when they themselves were setting bad examples.

He said under such circumstances, it was embarrassing to even call oneself a public servant.

The chief secretary said the condition of the office toilets indicated the scant regard of the staff towards public property.