Officials, Employees Absent At Horticulture Dept Office In Jajpur, Locals Say Staff Out On Picnic

Visitors to the office of the Assistant Director, Horticulture in Jajpur got a rude shock when they allegedly found the office doors shut while the cabins of other employees were lying empty on Wednesday.

Needless to say they came back in disappointment as their work got stuck due to the absence of staff at the office.

A contractual peon, who was the only person sighted at the office, said that the staff, including the Assistant Director of the department, had gone to Sukinda to attend an annual district level meeting.

“I am told that the officers and other staff here have gone to attend a meeting in Sukinda,” he said.

However, locals who are in the know of things alleged that meeting is just an excuse. The staff are actually on a picnic and feasting at a particular place in Sukinda on a working day, they said.

OTV caught up with Hrisikesh Mekap, a local resident, at the empty office. “I have come here to buy some plants for my garden. It’s been two hours, but I can’t find a soul in the office,” he said.

Mekap said he was told by one of the officials that the staff had gone for a meeting. “That was a lie. If at all there was a district-leve meeting, it sould have happened at the headquarters here (Jajpur town) and not in a farmhouse in Sukinda. They have gone there for a feast on a working day by bunking office,” he alleged.

Meanwhile, when asked about allegations of a picnic and feast by the staff, the contractual peon said, “If they are having a feast, they should come back after lunch.”

Asked over phone, the Assistant Director of Horticulture in Jajpur said that they have gone for a meeting of Horticulture Department held at Sukinda.