15 Miscellaneous

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 155. All papers are confidential to outsiders and the public. --Every communication received in the office and registers and papers, notes, correspondence and disposals showing the steps taken in connection therewith are confidential so far as the public including the Government employees of outside offices are concerned, unless their communication to the latter is authorised by the head of the office. Notes or correspondence started in the office as arising papers are no exceptions to this principle.

156. Telephone messages.—Written messages by telephone should be resorted to only when absolutely necessary. As a general rule, the telephone should be used only for messages which are short and really urgent. Superintendents of the sections may use the telephone for clearing doubtful points in direct communication with ministerial heads of outside offices. In the absence of special orders to the contrary, telephone messages shall be dealt with as demi-official communications. Orders should not be communicated by telephone except in cases of real emergency and in such cases the messages should be confirmed by formal official communications. All important messages should similarly be followed by formal official or demi official communications.

Orders or instructions communicated over the phone should be copied out on the note file.

157. House of attendance:- All members of the establishment are expected to attend office form 10 a.m to 5 p.m daily. Office should on no account be changed to suit  the convenience of individuals officers. Superintendents must set an example to others by themselves attending office punctually. An interval of 45 minutes from 1.15 pm to 2 pm will be allowed for Tiffin. Peons should, however attend the office at 9.30 am. Muslim officers, who wish to offer jumma prayers will be granted an interval of 2 hours from 12.30 to 2.30 p. m. on Fridays, provided the time so spent is made up, if necessary, outside office hours on the same or other days of the week.

A member of the office establishment shall not leave the office premises during working hours without the previous permission of the Superintendent of the section.

Each Superintendent should maintain a Movement Register in which a member of the staff wishing to leave the Section should note the time of departure, the time of expected return and the purpose, before leaving the Section. The Superintendent should scrutinise the entries and initial the Register at the close of every day. The Movement Register should be put up for perusal to the Head of Office on the first working day of each month. The middle level officers should make surprise inspections to the Sections under their control and check the Movement Register.

158. Earlier hours on certain special occasions.-On certain special occasions such as during days of sittings of the Legislature, or when certain particularly urgent work has to be transacted, the persons concerned should attend office even at earlier hours, if necessary.

159. Attendance Register.--An Attendance Register in the prescribed form will be kept in the custody of the Superintendent of  each Section and all the employees of the Section should mark their  attendance in the Attendance Register as soon as they come to office. It will be closed by the Superintendent, 10 minutes after the office opens, The and will be laid before his immediate Superior Officer, together with the “Daily Attendance Abstract Register".

All Non-Gazetted staff should mark their daily attendance (in the Forenoon and after noon) in their regular attendance register. Gazetted Officers in all Government offices except middle level and senior officers shall mark their attendance in the section attendance register as a token of having checked the attendance. Middle level and senior officers who have personal staff attached to their offices shall maintain attendance registers for them and sign those registers as a token of having checked their attendance. Field Officers (both Gazetted and Non-Gazetted) should mark their attendance in office attendance register, while at the headquarters and should mark “duty', 'tour' or leave' before they proceed on tour/leave/duty as the case may be wherever possible. In other cases, they may do so on return to headquarters.

160. Late attendance.—If any member of the office establishment does not attend office punctually, the word “late' will be entered against his name in the column for that date. If he comes latter on, the hour at which he arrives should be entered by the immediate

superior. Forfeiture of a day's casual leave will ordinarily be the penalty for every 3 days' late attendance without permission. Members of the establishment requiring permission to attend office late must apply for it beforehand whenever possible. Such permission will be granted only by the head of office concerned.

Note.—Late attendance without permission for less than three days at the end of the calendar year need not be reckoned.

161. Urgent work during holidays.—Proper arrangements should be made for the disposal of work during holidays. The Superintendents may make their own arrangements in regard to this, but care should be taken to distribute the work fairly and if possible, no clerk should be required to attend office on more than one or two days during the holidays. On the last working day previous to a vacation or to two or more consecutive holidays, no clerk shall leave the office without the permission of the Superintendent of the section concerned.

162. Casual leave.-Casual leave will be granted under such rules and conditions as are laid down by government from time to time. It will not be granted on vague and general grounds. The purpose for which leave is required must be stated definitely. Application for leave including extensions of leave must be made and orders on them obtained before the leave is taken or the applicant is due to rejoin duty. Absence in anticipation of sanction will only be condoned if the necessity for the leave or extension could not have been foreseen. When a clerk goes on leave, he must invariably hand over any office key in his custody to the Superintendent of his section.

163. Prohibition against seeing outsiders in the office. Members of the establishment are prohibited from seeing outsiders in the office rooms. They must of course, not expect any presents or remuneration from any visitor, party or other person resorting to the office nor lay themselves under obligations to such persons in any other way.

164. Maintenance of reference books in sections.-Reference books and other publications supplied to a section shall be preserved with care. A list of such books should be maintained and each book shall be given a serial number. The books shall be arranged in the serial order and any book taken out for reference should be replaced in its proper place immediately after use. All corrections to the reference books should be embodied in them up-to-date and a note book showing the list of correction slips pasted should be maintained in the section.

165. Confidential papers.-Confidential papers which the head of the office does not think it necessary to retain in his own custody will be kept by the Manager in an almarah in which case he will be keeping the key. Confidential papers will be registered either by the *stenographer in a separate register under C. C.(Confidential Current) serial numbers or by subject-clerks in thier Personal Registers. In the latter case, no title will be entered in the Personal *Since re-designated as Confidential Assistant.

Register but only the word "Confidential”. When such papers are disposed of, they will be handed over to the Manager, or the head of the office himself may keep such of them as he considers necessary Confidential records of the staff shall be kept in the custody of the head of the office or the Manager according as the rules governing their custody require. Agreements or contracts got executed on various accounts should be kept in the custody of the Manager only.

166. Maintenance, accounting and security of registers.-- The head of the office shall make arrangements for the maintenance, accounting and security of registers. The procedure outlined below will be adopted for this purpose.

 (1) A "List of registers to be maintained” shall be prepared and issued under a formal standing order or office order. This list will be drawn up with reference to the relevant instructions in codes and rules like Financial Code, Treasury Code, Kerala Service Rules, Departmental Manuals, Manual of Office Procedure etc., and of Government orders, and Departmental orders issued from time to time. The individual responsible to maintain each register will also be designated in the order.

(2) Additions or deletions from this list will be similarly notified in formal orders, with reference to the original order.

(3) The Chief Ministerial Officer, or in small offices, the head of the office himself shall maintain for ready reference a copy of the order, as amended up-to-date.

(4) At each change of the custodian of the registers, a formal charge report certifying to the correct receipt (or otherwise) of the registers shall be prepared and submitted, with the joint signature of the relieving and relieved custodian to the head of the office or where the head of the office himselfis the custodian of a particular register, to the next superior authority. A list of registers handed over shall also be attached to the report.

(5) All registers completed or otherwise closed shall be transferred on formal acknowledgement to the Record Keeper, or to a person to be designed for this purpose by the head of the office in any office where there is no Record Keeper, or in a small office to the head of the office himself.

\167. Peons.—Peons will be under the immediate control of the section heads who are responsible for the transaction of work in the sections and officers. They are expected to do the duties allotted to them by section heads and clerks and also by the officers to whom they are attached. The ministerial staff should not use peons for their private work.

168. Watch and Ward staff.—The Watch and Ward staff shall attend duty as arranged by the competent authority.