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Prime
Minister Narendra Modi
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Even in India, where government jobs are considered to
be for life, A.K. Verma was pushing it. Verma, an executive engineer at the
Central Public Works Department, was fired after last appearing for work in
December 1990.
"He went on seeking extension of leave, which was
not sanctioned, and defied directions to report to work," the government
said in a statement on Thursday, Reuters reports.
Even after an inquiry found him guilty of "wilful
absence from duty" in 1992, it took another 22 years and the intervention
of a cabinet minister to remove him, the government said.
India's labour laws, which the World Bank says are the
most restrictive anywhere, make it hard to sack staff for any reason other than
criminal misconduct.
States, led by Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, have
recently changed the law to make it easier to hire and fire staff, in a move
welcomed by industry leaders but opposed by labour unions.
Prime
Minister Narendra Modi has cracked down on rampant absenteeism by making New
Delhi bureaucrats sign in at work using a fingerprint scanner. The results are
publicly available online - at www.attendance.gov.in - in real time.
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