At least 16 government employees were made to stand up for at least 20 minutes
At least 16 employees of the Noida residential plot department had a back-to-school moment when they had to remain standing for 20-odd minutes as a punishment for keeping people waiting at their counters. The 'stand-up' punishment, visuals of which were caught on camera, followed an order from Noida CEO Dr Lokesh M, who was infuriated with the staff for making people wait at counters for long durations.
About 65 CCTV cameras have been set up at the New Okhla Industrial Development Authority's office that hundreds of Noida residents visit every day for a variety of work. The CEO, a 2005-batch IAS officer who took charge of Noida last year, often scans footage from these cameras and asks staff not to keep people, especially senior citizens, waiting for long.
On Monday, the CEO spotted an elderly man standing at a counter. He immediately asked the woman official at the counter to attend to the elderly man and not keep him waiting. He also asked her to tell the man clearly if his work could not be done.
About 20 minutes later, the CEO noticed that the elderly man was standing at the same counter. Upset with this, the CEO reached the residential department and gave a dressing down to all the officials at the counters. He then asked them to stand and work for 20 minutes. A video that has now gone viral shows the officials, many of them women, standing and working after the CEO's punishment.
Social media users have praised the CEO's move and said such actions were necessary to ensure prompt response in government offices.