Rayagada, January 5: In a stern message to officials failing to maintain punctuality, Rayagada Collector Ashutosh Kulkarni on Monday surprised Government officials from various departments by not allowing them inside the meeting hall when they arrived late by at least half an hour for the weekly public grievance redressal meeting held at the Zilla Parishad Conference Hall here.

On Monday, the meeting began at 10 AM, and the Collector had already arrived at the hall by then. Nevertheless, as many as 12 Government officials arrived late, some by as much as half an hour.

They included Rayagada Sub-Collector Ramesh Kumar Jena, District Excise Superintendent Santosh Dhalsamant, District panchayat Officer Surya Moharana, District Social Security Officer Srikant Panigrahy, District Social Welfare officer Minati Deo, DIPRO Basant Pradhan, Rayagada BDO Sujit Kumar Mishra, Sub-Registrar, ACF, Rural Drinking Water Supply officer.

Disappointed by the casual approach of the officials, the Collector immediately asked the security personnel to prevent those who arrived late from entering the hall. For over two hours, the Government officials were left waiting outside in the corridor and were not permitted to join the public grievance redressal meeting.

The Collector’s actions were welcomed by the public.

Every Monday, a public grievance redressal meeting takes place, with the participation of Government officials from various departments. This allows for the quick resolution of petitions received from people across the district.

On several occasion, it was alleged that officials arrived at the weekly public grievance redressal meetings late.