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CHAPTER --- IV

OFFICE MANAGEMENT AND DISCIPLINE

36.

Hours of Attendance
(i)

The normal hours of attendance for all offices under the Andaman and
Nicobar Administration are from 8.30 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. with lunch break
for half an hour from 1.00 p.m. to 1.30 p.m.

(ii)

Offices will remain closed on Saturdays and Sundays.

(iii)

Any member of the staff may, however, be required to work beyond


office hours, if his work is not up-to-date or the business of the
Department/Office/ Section so demands.

(iv)

Every member of the staff is expected to be in his seat and to start work
by 8.30 a.m., unless he has previously obtained special permission for
late attendance.

(v)

Ten minutes grace may be allowed in respect of the arrival time to cover
any unforeseen contingencies. Persons reaching office during this period
of grace are nevertheless late but such late coming may be condoned
unless it becomes a matter of frequent occurrence.

37.

Attendance Register
Attendance Register in Form S. 37 will be maintained in each
Department/Office/Section under the personal supervision of the Section
Officer in respect of the persons working under his charge. In the case of
Personal Assistants/Stenographers the attendance register will be
maintained by the Officers to whom they are attached. Attendance of
Class IV staff will be maintained by the Care Taker/Section incharge/Officer to whom they are attached.

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(i)

Arrival (a)

Every member of the staff should, on arrival, enter in ink clearly


his initials together with the time of arrival against his name in the
relevant dated column against the letter `A.

(b)

The register should be initialed by the Section Officer (or, in his


absence, by the senior most Assistant present) at the bottom of
the dated column on the last page for the current month, in token
of scrutiny and will be sent to the Branch Officer at 8.40 a.m. Any
person arriving thereafter should mark his attendance in the
register in the Branch Officers room and give the reasons for his
late attendance verbally or in writing, as may be desired by the
Branch Officer.

(ii)

Departure While leaving the office, every member of the staff should record his
initials with the time of departure in the space against the letter `D
opposite his name.

38.

Recording of Non-Attendance
The following abbreviations will be used by the Section Officer to denote
the reasons of non-attendance(i)

C.H. Compensatory Holiday in lieu of attendance on a holiday.

(ii)

C.L. Casual Leave.

(iii)

L Leave of any other kind of regular leave.

(iv)

A Absence without leave or permission.


(This entry should be made in pencil- when leave of any kind is
sanctioned, the appropriate abbreviation as indicated above should be
substituted in ink.)

(v)

R.H. Restricted Holiday.

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39.

Maintenance of Attendance Register


(i)

For staff in Sections (including Group `D staff) The register will be


maintained under the personal supervision of the Section Officer who will
see that entries are made correctly.
The Section Officer will draw the attention of the Branch Officer to the
names of persons who are frequently or habitually late during the month
without prior permission.

(ii)

Personal Staff (including Group `D) attached to Officers- Except where


there is a regular pool of Stenographers or other personal staff working
in a room under a supervisor, the attendance will be controlled by the
officers to whom the staff is attached. In the event, however, of the
absence of the officer on leave or on tour or for any other reason, his
personal staff would report to the corresponding officer of administration
unless there exists any specific orders to the contrary, who will take
necessary action for proper utilization of the services of such personal
staff whenever considered necessary.

40.

Punctuality
(i)

Strict measures should be taken by the administrative authorities for the


enforcement of punctuality. Section Officers/Supervisory Officers should
be very particular in scrutinizing the attendance register;

(ii)

Surprise daily checks may be carried out in one or two sections of the
Department/Office under the direct supervision of the senior officer like
the Heads of Department/Heads of Office.

(iii)

The lunch hour must be scrupulously observed not only by the


subordinate staff but by the Supervisory officers and periodical surprise
checks should be made to ensure this.

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(iv)

The Heads of Departments and Heads of Offices should ensure


punctuality in attendance and strict observance of the half an hour lunch
recess in the offices under their control. It should be ensured that the
prescribed working hours in offices are strictly adhered to by all and the
officers and staff do not overstay the prescribed lunch break. Habitual
non-observance of scheduled hours for attending office is highly
objectionable and will amount to lack of devotion to duty, thus attracting
Rule 3 (1) (ii) of the Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, 1964.

(v)

The case of a Government Servant who leaves office early without


permission before the time for closing of office should also be treated like
late attendance and half-a-days casual leave should be debited to the
CL account for each such early departure from office.

41.

Half A Days Casual Leave


(i)

A Govt. servants having an urgent private work, either in the forenoon or


in the afternoon, which does not require a full days casual leave, i.e.
when he has to go to Harbour/Jetty/Aerodrome to receive a friend or
relation or to hospital/dispensary to have himself or a member of his
family treated, may be granted half-a-days casual leave, if applied for by
him. The existing practice of allowing a Govt. servant to attend office late
or to leave office early, with permission, should cease forthwith.

(ii)

For the grant of half-a-days casual leave, the lunch interval is to be the
dividing line, i.e. Govt. servants taking half-a-days casual leave for the
forenoon shall attend office at 1.00 p.m. and those taking half-a-days
casual leave for the afternoon may leave office at 1.00 p.m.

(iii)

The balance at credit in the casual leave account of some Government


servant may be in terms of full days plus half-a-day. In such cases there
is no objection to the grant of half-a-days casual leave, in conjunction

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with full days casual leave, if so applied for. Likewise, even when the
casual leave at the credit of a Government servant is in terms of full
days, there is no objection to the grant of half days casual leave in
conjunction with full days casual leave.
42.

Penalty for Late Attendance


(i)

Occasional late attendance by Government servants due to unavoidable


reasons e.g. illness in the family, a cycle puncture, late running of buses,
heavy rains etc. may be condoned by the competent authority.

(ii)

In case of Government Servants who are frequently or habitually late in


attending office, half days casual leave should be debited to the casual
leave account of such Government servants for late attendance. The
Competent Authority may however, condone late attendance up to an
hour on not more than two occasions in a month, if he is satisfied that it
is due to unavoidable reasons like those mentioned in sub-para (i)
above. In case such a course does not ensure punctual attendance of
the Government servant suitable disciplinary action may be taken
against him, in addition to debiting half-a-days casual leave to his casual
leave account on each occasion, if he is persistently/habitually attending
late.

(iii)

Action to be taken for late-coming when no casual leave is at credit.


If an official who has no casual leave to his credit comes late without
sufficient justification and the administrative authority concerned is not
prepared to condone the late coming but does not, at the same time,
propose to take disciplinary action, he may inform the official that it will
be treated as unauthorized absence for the day on which he has come
late and leave it to the official himself either to face the consequences of
such unauthorized absence or to apply for earned leave or any other

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kind of leave due and admissible for the entire day. The same may be
sanctioned by the competent authority.
(iv)

When a day can be marked dies non and its effect.


Absence of officials from duty without proper permission or when on duty
in office, leaving office without proper permission, or while in the office,
refusal to perform the duties assigned to them is subversive of discipline.
In cases of such absence from work, the leave sanctioning authority may
order that the days on which work is not performed be treated as dies
non, i.e., they will never count as service nor be construed as break in
service. This will be without prejudice to any other action that the
competent authorities might take against the persons resorting to such
practices.

(v)

No marking of dies non for late-coming.


According to instructions above, the day be marked as dies non by the
leave sanctioning authority only under three circumstances, viz.
(i)

when the official remains absent from duty without prior


information;

(ii)

when on duty in office, the official leaves the office without proper
permission; and

(iii)

The official remains in office, but refuses to perform duty assigned


to him.

For the conditions mentioned above, it is clear that an official can be


marked as dies non even if he performs duty for a part of the day in case
he leaves office without proper permission or when he refuses to perform
duties while remaining in office. But a day on which an official comes late
and works throughout the day during office hours will not be marked as
dies non. It is accordingly clarified that treating the day as dies non for
coming late is not contemplated in the rules. The proper course in such

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cases would be to debit the casual leave account of the official as per
instructions issued from time to time.
43.

Permission to Leave Office


(i)

A member of staff will not leave the office premises during working hours
without permission of his Section Officer or in his absence, of the Branch
Officer.

(ii)

When a priority case requires action on the same day, the staff
concerned will not leave office without permission of the Section Officer
in the case of Dealing Clerks, Typists etc. and of the Branch Officer in
the case of Section Officers.

44.

Observance of Proper Decorum


(i)

No Government employees should play cards on the lawns and such


other places inside and outside office buildings.

(ii)

The game of cards should be confined to the recreation rooms or places


approved for such purposes.

(iii)

No indoor games should be played in the office buildings after 7.00 p.m.
except on special occasions such as tournaments, etc.

Persons found violating these instructions will be liable to


disciplinary action.
45.

Daftries and Peons---Hours of Attendance


(i)

Daftries and Peons will attend office half an hour earlier than the hour
prescribed for the office (i.e. at 8.00 am.) and shall start performing their
usual duties forthwith so that the normal business of the Office could
commence at 8.30 am.

(ii)

Daftries in particular, should make it a point to arrange all tables in the

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section/office concerned, daily before 8.30 am on all working days and


check up that each table presents a tidy appearance with proper
provision for stationery articles.
(iii)

Peons will not leave office without permission of the Section Officer
under whom they work. Group D staff attached to officers will remain in
the office until their officers leave or until they are permitted by their
officers to leave early.

46.

Surprise Visits
The Branch Officers will make surprise visits to the Office/ Sections
under their charge, as frequently as possible, to check attendance and
also to ensure that the members of staff are not absent from their seats
without permission and that they do not over-stay in the lunch period.
Whenever necessary a report of such surprise visit, will be submitted by
the respective Branch Officer to their next higher officer for taking
suitable action.

47.

Wearing of Uniform by Group D Employees


Members of Class IV staff provided with official uniform should, during
working hours, be neatly dressed up in official uniform only and in no
other clothes of any kind whatsoever.

48.

Casual Leave
(i)

Casual leave is a concession granted to Government servants to enable


them to stay away from office for a short period on account of illness or
to enable them to attend urgent private matters. Casual leave is not a
recognized form of leave nor is it subject to any rule. Technically a
Government servant on casual leave is not treated as absent from duty

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nor is his pay intermitted.


(ii)

The maximum period of casual leave which a Government servant is


allowed to avail himself of, is 8 (eight) days in a calendar year subject to
a maximum of 5 days at a time. The limit of 5 days at a time may be
relaxed in special circumstances at the discretion of the Head of
Department.

NOTE : The tendency on the part of Government servants to exhaust


the entire casual leave during the first few months of the year should be
curbed.
(iii)

Casual leave may be prefixed and/or suffixed to recognized Holidays


and Sundays.

(iv)

Sundays and Holidays falling during a period of casual leave will not be
treated as a part of the casual leave.

(v)

Casual leave should not however, be granted so as to cause evasion of


the rules regarding-a)

date of reckoning of pay and allowances ;

b)

charge of office ;

c)

commencement and end of regular leave ;

d)

return to duty ;
or so as to extend the term of leave beyond the time admissible
under the rules.

(vi)

Casual leave cannot be combined with any other kind of leave viz.
earned leaved, extraordinary leave, medical leave etc. Casual leave
cannot be combined with vacation.

(vii)

Casual leave shall be availed of only with prior sanction of the competent
authority except in case of ill health or any special circumstances when
the obtaining of such prior sanction becomes impossible.

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(viii) Casual leave on account of illness may be granted upto two days without
Medical Certificate. Applications for casual leave on medical grounds for
a period exceeding two days should be supported by Medical Certificate
from an Authorized Medical Attendant.

The Government servants

availing leave on Medical Certificate should also produce a Fitness


Certificate from the Authorized Medical Attendant before they are
allowed to rejoin duty.
(ix)

In the case of a person who joins Government service in the middle of a


calendar year, the authority competent of grant casual leave will have
the discretion to grant either the full period of 8 days or only a portion
thereof, after taking into account all the circumstances of the case.

NOTE: --- A Govt. servants who is allowed casual leave is expected to


make up for his absence by a more concerted effort or by working longer
hours on returning to duty, without any extra expense to the Govt.
49.

Authorities Competent to Sanction Casual Leave


(i)

All Heads of Departments/Offices are competent to sanction casual


leave to the Govt. servants working under them.

(ii)

If there are more than one Heads of Offices in a Deptt, casual leave to
other heads of offices will be sanctioned by the highest Head of Office
(Controlling Officer) in that Department.

(iii)

Casual leave to Heads of Offices will be sanctioned by their respective


Heads of Deptt. / Controlling Officer.

(iv)

Casual leave to Heads of Departments will be sanctioned by the


concerned Administrative Secretary.

(v)

A Head of Department/Office may delegate powers to any officer(s)


under him to grant casual leave.

(vi)

In the Secretariat, casual leave to group B and C staff will be

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sanctioned by the Branch Officer upto two days at a time. Casual leave
to group `D staff will be sanctioned by the respective Branch Officers
upto

two

days

at

time.

Casual

leave

to

Personal

Assistants/Stenographers attached to officers will be sanctioned by the


respective officers.
50.

Public Holidays
Public Holidays are declared every year by the Lt. Governor, Andaman
and Nicobar Islands under section 25 of the Negotiable Instruments Act,
1881 (XXVI of 1881) subject to provision being made for urgent work
and essential services, all offices under the Andaman and Nicobar
Administration will remain closed on Saturdays, Sundays and Public
Holidays.

51.

Restricted Holidays
(i)

Govt. servants can avail themselves of any two Restricted Holidays out
of the list of such holidays declared every year by the Lt. Governor,
Andaman and Nicobar Islands, irrespective of religious denominations.

(ii)

Intimation for availing Restricted Holidays is required to be given in


writing in advance.

52.

Special Casual Leave


(i)

In addition to casual leave, special casual leave may be granted to


Government Servants by the Heads of Departments or other authorities
specially empowered in this behalf, for certain specific purposes in
accordance with the orders issued by the Government of India from time
to time.

(ii)

Some of the purposes for which special casual leave is admissible are
indicated below:--

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a)

Where the staff is not able to attend office during civil disturbances,
curfews or strikes ;

b)

Training and duty as members of officially sponsored auxiliary


police organizations, such as Home guards, National Volunteers
Corps, etc.

c)

Participation in sporting events of National or International


importance in a representative capacity or engaged in coaching or
administration of teams participating in such events ;

d)

Taking Hindi examinations (Proboth, Praveen and Pragya) under


the scheme of teaching Hindi to Central Government employees ;

e)

Donating blood to recognized Blood banks on working day (for that


day only);

f)

Participation in the activities of recognised Service Associations by


their office Bearers ;

g)
53.

Undergoing sterilization operations and IUCD insertion.

Maintenance of Casual Leave and Restricted Holidays Account


Casual leave and Restricted holidays account of Government Servants
will be maintained in a Register in the form given in Appendix-4 in the
concerned administrative section of the officer of the authorities
competent/authorized to sanction casual leave.

54.

Leaving Headquarters
Subject to any special orders issued in this regard by the Heads of
Departments/Offices in respect of the employees working under them,
no Government servant should leave his headquarters without prior
permission of the authority competent to sanction leave. He should,

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when so permitted inform the authority concerned; of his address at the


station to which he is proceeding. In all applications for leave including
casual leave or compensatory leave, during which the applicant
proposes to leave the station, the fact should be stated in the application
together with his out station address.
55.

Addresses of Staff
A list of the addresses of all members of the staff working in an
office/section should be maintained by each Section Officer and a copy
pasted on the piece of cardboard and should be displayed at a
conspicuous place in the Office/Section.

56.

Office Rooms
(i)

In the interest of security, the Chowkidar/Watchman should remain


present during sweeping, dusting, etc of office rooms. Thereafter, he
should not keep open any office rooms in his charge, until the arrival of
any member of staff working in the room or of the Peon working the
Section/Office. In the evening, the last member of staff leaving the
office/section will be responsible to make over the room to
Chowdikar/Watchman and get the room locked.

(ii)

In the case of rooms occupied by Officers, the Jamadars, Peons


attached to them should supervise by turn the sweeping, dusting and
opening of rooms. No outsider or a member of the staff, except the
PS/Personal Assistant or the Stenographer attached to the officer,
should ordinarily enter an Officers room during his absence. If a file,
book or paper is required urgently during the officers absence from the
room, it should be removed only by the PS/Personal Asst. or the
Stenographer concerned.

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(iii)

It is the general responsibility of the Section Officer to see that the room
or rooms occupied by the sections under his charge are maintained in a
neat and tidy condition. The clerical staff should keep their tables and
surrounding neat and clean and the papers neatly arranged.

(iv)

When leaving office, every member of the staff should see that all files,
papers, books, registers, etc in his charge are kept in proper places. (As
far as possible in locked Almirahs) pending paper should be kept
together in a separate folder appropriately marked.

(v)

It shall be the duty of the Section Officer to see that the electric lights,
fans etc. are used only when necessary and that they are switched off
when not required during office hours and also every evening when
leaving the office.

(vi)

The Section Officer/Branch Officer will ensure that the telephone


provided in the Section/Office is used strictly for official calls under no
circumstances, the telephone should be used for private call except in
cases of emergency.

57.

Responsibility of the Staff


Each member of the staff is responsible for the work assigned to him.
He is also responsible for all official papers and articles belonging to the
office which are entrusted to him for custody/use.

58.

Admission of Outsiders to the Office


The Admission of outsiders or private persons to any part of the Office/
Section, for any purpose whatsoever, is strictly prohibited. Any person
calling on business or entitled by position to make enquiry should do so
from the Branch Officer or the Section Officer. No member of the staff
should, under any circumstances, give any information on any subject to
any outsider except when permitted by the Branch Officer/Section

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Officer. Any improper enquiries made by visitors should be brought to


the notice of the Branch Officer.
59.

Taking of Papers Outside the Office


Section Officers, members of staff dealing with case work, may with the
prior permission of Branch Officer, take official papers/files to their
houses, if absolutely necessary for dealing with any case of an urgent
nature. This will not apply to classified documents, the movement of
which is governed by separate instructions.

60.

Maintenance of Order in the Office/Section


(i)

While the Branch Officer/Heads of Department/Office is responsible for


the general discipline of the office, every Section Officer is responsible
for the maintenance of order in his section and should prevent idle
talking, loitering, reading of news papers etc by his staff.

(ii)

Every Government servant should attend his office punctually and do the
work allotted to him sincerely and honestly during office hours.

(iii)

He should wear clean and tidy attire, conduct himself while in the office
in a disciplined manner and behave courteously with all including his
colleagues, whether superior or inferior to him, in rank as also with
members of the public.

(iv)

He should discourage persons from seeing him while at work in the


office, except strictly on official business with the permission of the
Branch Officer/Section Officer. He should also refrain from indulging in
unnecessary talk across the table with his colleagues as well as chatting
in groups.

(v)

He must not lose his temper or speak in loud or harsh tone, however
great the provocation is.

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61.

Maintenance of Complaint Book


(i)

A complaint book should, as a rule, be kept in all offices which have


dealings with the public. The book may be kept under the charge of a
responsible

Officer/official

as

deemed

proper

by

Heads

of

Department/Office so that in case, a complaint is required to be lodged


by a complainant, he can write the complaint in his own hand writing and
under his signature(s) in presence of the person keeping the complaint
book, which can be properly enquired into.
(ii)

The complaint book shall be maintained in the form given in Appendix


12. Each page of the complaint book shall be serially numbered and the
book shall carry the following certificate duly signed & dated by the
Heads of Department/Office on the first page.
Certified that the complaint book carries pages serially numbered.
Dated

(iii)

Signature and Designation of the Head of


Departments/Office.

Every Heads of Department /Office shall scrutinize the complaint book in


the first week of every month or more frequently if necessary, and fully
satisfy himself about action taken or proposed to be taken on the
complaint. Every scrutiny by the Heads of Department/office shall be
followed by his signature in Col. 7 of the complaint book in token of
scrutiny. It is also advisable to inform the complainant of the action taken
or proposed to be taken on his complaint.

(iv)

A sign or notice board shall be displayed at a conspicuous place in the


office which is frequented by public to the effect that a complaint book is
being maintained in the office which is available on demand from
specified Officer. The name and designation of such an officer shall also
be given in the sign or Notice Board.

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