Chandigarh: Government offices will function from 7:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. starting 2 May to tide over extreme summers in the state, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has announced Saturday.
These new timings are a reduction of almost one and a half hours in the current timings of government offices, which currently operate from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The new timings will be applicable till 15 July, the chief minister said in a video message.
ਪੰਜਾਬ ਦੇ ਲੋਕਾਂ ਲਈ ਇੱਕ ਵੱਡਾ ਫੈਸਲਾ ਲਿਆ ਹੈ ਜੋ ਤੁਹਾਡੇ ਨਾਲ ਸਾਂਝਾ ਕਰ ਰਿਹਾ ਹਾਂ… ਸਰਕਾਰੀ ਦਫ਼ਤਰਾਂ ਦੇ ਸਮੇਂ 'ਚ ਤਬਦੀਲੀ…ਦੇਸ਼ 'ਚ ਪਹਿਲੀ ਵਾਰ ਇਹ ਫਾਰਮੂਲਾ ਲਾਗੂ ਹੋਵੇਗਾ…Live https://t.co/jCEkRsHjHj
— Bhagwant Mann (@BhagwantMann) April 8, 2023
Mann said that the decision was taken on an experimental basis for the first time in the country after consultations with various stakeholders.
People who have to visit government offices during summers can now come in early and get free by the time it becomes extremely hot in the afternoon, he said.
The government employees are also supportive of the idea as they will be able to reach back home after 2 p.m. which is also when their children return from schools and their families can spend more time together, the chief minister added.
Mann further said his was a government of new hope and ideas and added this new idea was being tried for the first time.
The change in timings will also reduce the peak power load during the summer months by almost 300 to 350 megawatt (MW) per day, making this load available for domestic and industrial use, the Punjab CM said.
He added that the move will also save power because air conditioners and coolers are used mostly after 1 p.m. in government offices during the summers.
The peak demand for power in summers shoots up to 14,000 MW daily in Punjab. Last year, the state faced an acute power crisis in the summer largely due to the shortage of supply of coal to thermal plants. It resulted in a reduction in power by almost 1,200 megawatt during peak summer. Power cuts lasting 3 to 8 hours had become the bane of the newly elected Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government.
On Saturday, the CM said that in many foreign countries, daylight hours are utilised more by changing the timings, adding an hour in the morning and his government had tried to follow that experience.
Though Mann claimed that this was the first time that such a move was being made in the country, similar measures have been taken by some other governments.
In Karnataka, for instance, the summer timings of government offices in eight districts are reduced to 8:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. in April and May due to extreme heat. Normal office timings are 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. This has been continuing in Karnataka since 1995 onwards.
Several other states, including neighbouring Haryana, have been changing timings of the government schools whenever there are reports of intense heat waves during summers.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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