Big step! Maharashtra government fixes 30-minute lunch slot for its employees

In a big step, the Maharashtra government has issued a circular fixing a 30-minute slot for lunch between 1 pm and 2 pm during working days for its employees across the state. The state government resorted to taking this action following complaints that officers and staffers remained unavailable to people citing lunch time, a PTI report said, citing a government circular.

According to the circular of June 4, the slot has been fixed in view of complaints that officers and staffers remained unavailable to people citing lunch time and, thereby, delaying work. 

Earlier in September 2001, the state government had fixed half-an-hour slot between 1 pm and 2 pm for its officials and staffers at Mantralaya (state secretariat) in Mumbai. But the government had not fixed the lunch time for other offices in the state.

PTI quoted the recent circular as saying, "Office heads should ensure that officers/staffers will not take more time (than the stipulated 30 minutes) for lunch and that all the officers/staffers in a branch do not go for lunch at the same time." 

Notably, the Maharashtra government has in the past taken friendly steps to facilitate women officials. In July 2018, it had decided to provide a total of 180 days’ paid leave to women government employees to look after children in the course of service. 

The state women government employees were allowed to take this leave until their children turn 18. The same leave can be availed of by a male employee too if his wife is dead and if he has children who are under 18. 

Under this state government norm, women (or male, as the case may be) employees were allowed to seek this leave thrice a year.