PANAJI
The office of the District Collector, North Goa, has finally withdrawn the five-month-old memorandum that contained a controversial clause denying compensatory leave to staff attending offices on Saturdays.
The withdrawal, made in compliance with recommendations from the Goa Human Rights Commission (GHRC), comes with a condition that staff must mark their attendance every two hours.
“In view of the recommendation of the GHRC, the memorandum dated October 30, 2024, issued by this office is withdrawn to the extent that ‘no compensatory off shall be granted to the staff who are attending the offices on Saturdays,’ subject to the condition that the concerned staff shall mark their attendance on the biometric machine every two hours,” reads the fresh memorandum signed by North Goa Collector Sneha Gitte.
It further stated that the concerned Mamlatdar/Joint Mamlatdar shall certify the attendance, after which the staff will be granted compensatory leave as per eligibility and law.
On February 26, the GHRC recommended that the North Goa Collector amend the previous memorandum while observing that the denial of compensatory leave amounted to a violation of human rights and contradicted the Office Memorandum dated August 11, 1976, of the Ministry of Finance and the Central Civil Services (Leave) Rules, 1972.
This recommendation followed a marathon hearing on a petition filed by anonymous employees from the offices of the Mamlatdars of Bardez, Pernem, Tiswadi, Bicholim, and Valpoi. The petitioners alleged unfair treatment, irregular work distribution, excessive workload for select employees, lack of compensatory benefits, workplace threats and violations of their rights. They claimed these issues were affecting their overall well-being.
