Chandigarh, May 2 (). As part of the initiative to save electricity during the summer season, the new timetable came into force in government offices across Punjab from Tuesday. The work started at 7.30 am which will continue till 2 pm. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann reached the office two minutes before time.
The new office timings will be applicable till July 15. The timings of all government offices located in the state and Chandigarh have been changed.
On reaching the office, Mann told the media that the initiative would save an average of 350 MW of electricity per day, as government offices consume a large amount. If this experiment of changing office timings is successful and gets good response from the employees, it can be extended, he added.
The Chief Minister said that the new timing would save about Rs 40 crore and there would be no power cuts this season in commercial, residential and rural areas due to power shortage. Peak power load starts after 1 pm.
The Chief Minister said that the change in timings would also reduce the traffic load during peak office hours in most of the cities and towns.
Most other ministers, including Aman Arora, Harpal Cheema, Brahm Shankar, Harbhajan Singh and Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, reached office as per the new timings.
An official statement said the new timings will be implemented uniformly for all offices including field offices, civil secretariat and other head offices.
According to the government, the opening of offices early in the morning is expected to significantly reduce power consumption during peak summer, when power demand is highest.
PK/SKP
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