Employees face accommodation issues as Govt tightens grip
Source: Chronicle News Service

Imphal, April 24 2022: After the state government issued orders instructing government officials to stay in their respective place of posting without fail, government employees posted in the hill districts are facing problems regarding accommodation in the absence of proper quarter facility and unavailability of rented rooms.

In an order dated April 18, the department of personnel and administrative reforms (personnel division) instructed all government officials to stay at their respective place of posting.

The order asked employees to stay in government accommodation in their respective sub-division or block where they are posted.

In case there is no government accommodation, they are asked to stay in private rent, for which they can seek reimbursement from the finance department at the rate fixed by the department.

Interestingly, many of the government offices, especially in the interior parts of the hill districts, do not have proper government accommodation.

Though the government had constructed accommodations in sub-divisions and blocks, they are meant only for some top level officers, which left the lower grade officials without any government accommodation.

An employee posted in Henglep sub-division of Churachandpur district told this daily that the recent order is worth welcoming as it aims to ensure better functioning of government offices.

However, government offices in hill districts, especially in the interior parts, lack adequate infrastructure including accommodation facilities for the employees.

Though the government had constructed accommodations in some sub-divisions and blocks in the last term, the few rooms available in those facilities are reserved for top level officials only.

Among the employees, healthcare professionals have been staying at their place of posting somehow.

People in the hill areas are mainly poor and they do not have proper housing facilities and infrastructure to lease out rooms.

In such a situation, employees posted in hill areas often face the issue of accommodation as they could neither get government accommodation nor could find private rent, the employee said, while expressing concern that the new order might fall on deaf ear in the absence of adequate government accommodation facilities.

Mention may be made here that the April 18 order instructed district level officers and other officials to stay in their place of posting and to get prior permission from the DC if they want to go out of the district.

While instructing officials to attend offices regularly, the order also instructed officials concerned to report to the chief secretary if any employee is found absent from office.

The order also instructed DLOs to install biometric attendance system and monitor functioning of the offices regularly.

Biometric attendance record will be verified at the time of clearing salary bill by the DC's office, the order added.

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