DEHRADUN: A peculiar office order issued by an Executive Engineer (EE) of the National Highway section of the Public Works Department in Lohaghat, Uttarakhand, has gone viral on social media, causing a significant stir within the department.The controversial directive, which explicitly suggested seeking “divine help” to locate a lost service book, has prompted the Head of Department to seek an explanation from the engineer.The unusual situation arose after the service book belonging to a departmental Assistant Engineer went missing from an office cupboard. When the document could not be traced, the matter was brought to the attention of EE Ashutosh Kumar.In a bizarre written order, issued on Friday, Kumar outlined a plan that deviated sharply from standard administrative procedures.The order stated that the service book of Assistant Engineer Jay Prakash had been lost from the cupboard of the Establishment Assistant, noting that the Assistant Engineer was “mentally very worried” due to the loss. The directive then suggested, “In the absence of finding the service book,” the order read, “the idea came, why shouldn’t all the officers and employees of the office, based on divine faith, ask for two handfuls of rice from their respective homes and deposit them in a temple, and the deity will deliver justice.”In his order, the EE also specified a time for staff to deposit rice at the office on Saturday. The PWD headquarters took swift cognisance of the matter. PWD Head of Department Rajesh Chandra Sharma sought an immediate clarification from Kumar, saying the order was a “violation of employee conduct rules.”
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