KATHMANDU, April 10: Government offices may open at 9 AM and close at 5 PM—but a large number of civil servants appear to be treating the schedule as optional.
Surprise inspections by the National Vigilance Centre (NVC) have found around 1,000 employees failing to remain in office throughout working hours. They go missing during the day but return at 5 PM to punch the attendance machine.
Acting on the directive of the Cabinet and the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, the NVC has been carrying out daily unannounced inspections since last Monday. According to a NVC official, checks conducted across various government offices in Kathmandu on Monday and Tuesday revealed widespread absenteeism during office hours.
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“During our surprise inspection, around 1,000 employees in Kathmandu were not found staying in office or providing service from 9 AM to 5 PM,” the official said. “Many were seen marking attendance in the morning and leaving immediately. Some even arrived only in the morning and returned again at 5 PM just to mark attendance.”
The NVC inspected major public institutions, including teaching hospitals, Kanti Children’s Hospital, Bir Hospital, the National Trauma Centre, and the Department of Health Services. Surprise checks were also carried out at ministries and agencies inside Singha Durbar, as well as high-traffic public offices such as the Survey and Land Revenue departments.
From Wednesday, the monitoring drive expanded outside the Kathmandu Valley, with separate teams deployed across provinces. Officials say most offices outside the valley still lack electronic attendance systems, making monitoring more difficult.
“Some offices have buildings damaged during the Gen Z movement. In such places, where e-attendance is not available, office-hour discipline has not been properly maintained,” said another official deployed outside the valley.
The NVC has now begun submitting daily inspection reports to the Office of the Prime Minister and the Prime Minister’s Secretariat—a practice officials say was not followed earlier.
“We reach government offices at 9 AM for inspections,” said Secretary Sarju Kumar Vaidya. “Our focus is to ensure whether the 9-to-5 office schedule is being properly followed.”
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