Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday reached office at 0728 hrs and said that ‘dawn of new era’ has taken place in the state with the ‘unprecedented pro-people initiative’ of changing office hours which will save 350 Megawatts (MW) of power daily and around Rs 40 to 45 crore from May 2 to July 15.
“Apart from facilitating the people, the landmark move will also help in enhancing the efficiency of the government employees,’ asserted the Chief Minister while interacting with the media persons here at the committee room in the Punjab Civil Secretariat I.
He said that this decision has been taken after taking the consent of the majority of the stakeholders in a series of deliberations. He said that this decision will act as a catalyst in saving the people from scorching heat that is expected to be witnessed in the coming months.
Mr Mann said that though the tradition of setting watches in accordance with change of weather has been a routine feature in many western nations but in India this historic initiative has been taken for the first time.
Dwelling more details, Mr Mann said that it will enable a common man to do his work early in the morning without taking leave from his work. Likewise, he said that this will also facilitate the employees as they will be able to attend the social functions after the office hours.
He said that similarly the employees will also be able to spend more time with their children who will also come home at the same time.
He said that this decision is likely to save 350 MW of power daily in government offices thereby curtailing the power expenditure of the government offices considerably. He said that as per statistics of the POWERCOM 1:30 pm to 4 pm is the peak hour of the power usage but as now the offices will be closed at 2 pm so it will help in cutting power usage. Mr Mann said that on an average Rs 16 to Rs 17 crore will be saved every month adding that from May 2 to July 15, the state government is expected to save Rs 40 to Rs 42 crore.
Mr Mann said that the new time table will also ensure that maximum sunlight was utilized in the government offices. He said that after July 15 the decision will be reviewed after taking feedback from all the stakeholders, especially the common man.
He said that not only power but it will also help in managing the traffic movement efficiently.
He claimed that many other states have been enquiring about this step and it was likely to be replicated in other states too. Bhagwant Mann envisioned that in big cities like Bengaluru, Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi and others such steps can help in streamlining the traffic chaos thereby giving much needed respite to common man.
He also claimed that there was no dearth of power in the state as abundance of electricity was being generated to cater to needs of all the sectors whether it is agriculture, domestic or industry adding that, for example, the Guru Gobind Singh Super Thermal Power Plant at Ropar has coal for 35 days instead of earlier when the threat of darkness loomed large due to acute shortage of coal in the state.
Terming the statement of Haryana Power Minister regarding power in state as ‘baseless and irrational’, Mr Mann advised him to refrain from putting his nose in affairs of Punjab and focus on his own state.
