How UP’s Nawabi Government Office Culture Is Slowly Changing

With a saffron-robed monk becoming chargé d'affaires in Lucknow, the nawabi work culture in government offices in Uttar Pradesh is beginning to change. According to a report in the Economic Times, government employees have started to turn up on time and their attendance record has improved significantly since the new chief minister took charge.

According to the daily, the parking space on the main campus of the secretariat was completely occupied at 9:30 on Wednesday. “Full attendance hai, Sahib... babu log kaam chalu kar diye hain... isliye parking full hai,” the daily quoted a gatekeeper at the secretariat as saying.

According to a peon in the Vidhan Bhawan building, officers have replaced paan masala with toffees and chewing gums. “The best part is people no longer throw the wrapper around; they put it into their pockets,“ he said.

Yogi Adityanath, since coming to power, has taken several steps including banning the use of paan masala in government offices and asking for bio-metric attendance, to improve the performance of government employees. Special emphasis has been laid on the cleanliness of offices with the chief minister administering a cleanliness pledge to the government officials.

Crackdown on corruption, as promised in the party’s manifesto, has also followed. Out of 76 officers that were given extension by the Samajwadi Party government, at least 58 were removed from their posts last week. The new government is also likely to launch a probe into major projects undertaken by previous governments.