Ulhasnagar Municipal Corporation presents marigolds to staff arriving late

At least 42 staffers arrived late. Pic/Navneet Barhate

In an attempt to make public servants aware of punctuality, senior officials presented flowers to 42 late comers at the Ulhasnagar Municipal Corporation's (UMC) headquarters on Monday. UMC officials had received several complaints from citizens about such late comers.

The UMC headquarters is always abuzz with hundreds of Ulhasnagar residents. But many times officials and staff were missing, some even not reporting to work till 12 noon. There were many complaints by citizens about this to Additional Municipal Commissioner Jamir Lengrekar. Lengrekar brought the matter to the notice of Municipal Commissioner Aziz Sheikh.

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On Monday around 10 am, under the guidance of Shaikh, Lengrekar, Deputy Commissioner (headquarters) Ashok Naikwade, Achyut Sase and other officers went to the lobby of the headquarters and welcomed officers and employees arriving late, by giving them marigolds. This act has become a topic of discussion in Ulhasnagar city.

"Every staffer of UMC has to report to the headquarters by 9.45 am and can leave by 6.15 pm after completing 8 hours duty. But many were seen arriving late and leaving late. To end this mockery, the commissioner directed us to make them understand. We decided to welcome late comers today and found 42 officials and staff came as late as 12 noon. This is serious," said Naikwade. UMC officials have decided to keep a track of such officials, staff in future, and will take strict action if they default henceforth.