The provincial government may reduce work hours for secretariat workers by an hour, replacing 8am- to-3pm work day with a 7am-to-1pm one, in a bid to conserve electricity.
The decision was taken in a recent cabinet meeting presided over by Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif at the camp office set up in Minar-e-Pakistan, a cabinet member who attended the meeting told The Express Tribune on Tuesday.
He said the decision would be implemented after formal approval by the chief minister. He said minutes of the meeting would be circulated in a couple of days.
The Services and General Administration Department (S&GAD) would notify the new schedule after the approval.
The minister said the shorter work day was preferred by the participants of the meeting over a proposal to reduce the number of work days in a week from six to five.
He said the use of air-conditioners (ACs) would be allowed in government offices from 11am to 1pm. Currently, ACs can be switched at government offices between 11am and 3pm. The minister said a proposal to completely ban the use of ACs was rejected.
The meeting decided, however, that there would be no air-conditioning at the offices of ministers, advisors or parliamentary secretaries, he added.
Tents have been set up in the lawn of the ministers’ block in the Punjab Civil Secretariat for the ministers to work from but they have yet to use them.
Published In The Express Tribune, June 6th, 2012.
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