The Hindu : Punctuality given the go-by

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Mar 20, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Pondicherry

Punctuality given the go-by

By Our Staff Reporter

Pondicherry March 19. Waiting for VIPs is becoming never-ending for organisers of government functions of late.

Sometimes functions begin not less than one-and-half hours behind the scheduled time. It is not only Ministers who fail to keep appointed time, there are also instances of high-ranking officials playing truant much to the inconvenience and irritation of elected legislators.

The other day an Opposition party MLA was virtually shouting at some officials when a secretary of the department concerned was not present at a function without sending a word of his inability to attend it.

"What is the convention ? Is it the legislators who should wait to receive the secretaries or the vice-versa" asked the MLA who was not convinced of the reasons given by the officials.

If on one day the Secretary was absent, the other day he was kept waiting by the Minister. Perplexed by delay in commencing the function, the Secretary asked the Director of the department today to contact the Minister as to when he would come.

When giving this instruction, the official appeared to have forgotten that he had either kept the legislator waiting on the previous day at another function or was totally absent.

Hence late coming is not the exclusive privilege of any one particular section in this small-sized Union Territory.

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Punctuality given the go-by