IndiaToday.in New Delhi, January 8, 2015 | UPDATED 22:17 IST

An executive engineer at the Central Public Works Department was fired on Thursday after being absent from duty for more than 24 years.

AK Verma 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.

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.

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 http://www.attendance.gov.in – in real time.

Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/central-public-works-department-executive-engineer-fired/1/412206.html

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Categories: Societal

Tags: Central Public Works Department, Government of India, India